


Danganronpa: Parallel Island

by Lycoris_aurea



Series: Danganronpa the PARALLEL [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Different Culprits, Different Survivors, Different murders, Gen, Nonbinary Kamukura Izuru, Protagonist Ikusaba Mukuro, Protagonist Nanami Chiaki, Role Reversal, Spoilers for the entire hope’s peak academy saga, unused executions, yandere!Izuru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycoris_aurea/pseuds/Lycoris_aurea
Summary: Chiaki Nanami awakens to find herself on a sunny beach with eighteen other individuals. They have arrived on Jabberwock Island for the biggest, most amazing, most hope-inducing school trip of their lifetimes.Aw, hell. You know where this is going, don’t you?
Relationships: Andoh Ruruka & Celestia Ludenberg, Andoh Ruruka/Izayoi Sohnosuke, Hinata Hajime/Nanami Chiaki (implied), Ishimaru Kiyotaka & Ikusaba Mukuro, Kamukura Izuru & Nanami Chiaki, Munakata Kyosuke/Yukizome Chisa (mentioned), Ogami Sakura & Asahina Aoi, Owada mondo & Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Yamada Hifumi & Celestia Ludenberg, Yamada Hifumi & Mitarai Ryota
Series: Danganronpa the PARALLEL [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906171
Comments: 226
Kudos: 122





	1. Prologue: fun in the sun part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki arrives on the island, and everyone introduces themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my brand new AU fic! It is loosely, LOOSELY based on the fanfic “all hope lost” by SHSL_ex_soldier. That being said, there are enough differences that I think that reading won’t really spoil anything. Anyway! I hope you enjoy!

You exist because of me. Aren’t you grateful? You better be. I could wipe you out in an instant if I wanted to.

You probably will not remember me. I hope you do. But hope is a rare commodity in this godless world.

Hope. I am the ultimate hope. Or so they say. 

Hope and its opposite, despair. They both interest me. That’s why I am running a test, and you will be my window into it. Which one will prevail in the end, I wonder?

I leave the results in your hands.

And remember:

You are mine.

And I am yours.

-

The sounds of the waves crashing on the beach. The warm sand on her skin. The sunlight penetrating her eyelids. 

_Where...am I?_

“Hey...can you hear me?”

She opened her eyes, and was greeted by a blonde man wearing a hat looming above her.

“Are you okay?”

“Mmmm…”

She rubbed her eyes. The man’s expression softened. He extended his hand to her.

“You seem pretty out of it. Here, let me help you get up.”

She took the man’s hand and he pulled her to her feet. After a few seconds, she properly found her footing.

“Let’s go,” He said, motioning over to a nearby boardwalk. “I’ve already taken care of your luggage. Everyone’s waiting.”

-

The two of them walked down the path towards a large hotel. Several people—she counted seventeen of them—were standing around the entrance, most of them with luggage. She saw a pink duffle bag with a pixelated starship on it and instantly recognized it as hers.

“There you are! What took you so long?” Said a tall man in a blue suit with white hair. He was holding a clipboard.

“Sorry, sorry...we got a straggler here. That’s the last of them.”

“Good!” Said the white haired man. “Now that everyone is here, we can finally take attendance. My name is Kyosuke Munakata, and I am one of your two chaperones on this school trip.”

“And I’m Koichi Kizakura,” the blonde man said, tipping his hat. “The other chaperone. Pleasure to meet you all.”

“Now then. I could take attendance normally, but I’d prefer you all take initiative and introduce yourselves. Does anyone want to go first?”

The entire group turned and stared at the last student. She felt like a deer in the headlights.

“Um...I’m Chiaki Nanami...the ultimate gamer…” she finally said.

“Alright, check. Anyone else?”

A girl wearing a pink jacket with fluffy cuffs and neckline and a pair of yellow shorts plus pink boots spoke up next.

“Ruru! Ka! An! Do! Ruruka Ando, the ultimate confectioner! Thaaaaat’s me!”

 _She looks nice,_ Chiaki thought. A black haired, red-eyed boy wearing a pristine white school uniform cleared his throat. “My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I am the ultimate moral compass! Let’s work together on our educational crusade!”

_But we’re on vacation…_

A muscular man with a huge pompadour wearing a black jacket rolled his eyes.

“Name’s Mondo Owada.” He said and crossed his arms. After a moment he added, “Ultimate biker gang leader. Nice to fuckin’ meetcha.”

_He seems scary..._

Chiaki made a mental note to stay away from him.

“Hmmm...it seems the majority of you lack the muscle mass to challenge me…what a shame.” a tall, muscular woman said unannounced. “I am Sakura Ogami, the ultimate martial artist.”

_To think someone like that exists outside of fighting games..._

Next, a short, fat boy with glasses dramatically cleared his throat.

“I...am Hifumi Yamada, the ultimate fanfic creator. But if you want to call me by my nickname, “The Alpha and the Omega!” I don’t mind.”

“Nobody here wants to call you that,” a girl wearing a gothic Lolita dress with large black pigtails shot back. She continued, “On the other hand, _I_ am called Celestia Ludenberg, though I’d prefer to be called Celeste. I am the ultimate gambler.”

_Wow, she looks like she walked straight out of an otome game!_

“N-not that you’ll remember my n-name anyway, b-but…” a girl with dark purple braided hair and glasses wearing a sailor uniform began, “I’m T-Toko...Toko Fukawa...th-the ultimate writing prodigy…”

“Oh!” Chiaki blurted out loud. “I’ve read your first novel...I’m not normally into books, but it was very good!”

“Sh-shut up! Y-you’re lying, aren’t you?!”

“I was just thinking—”

“I know what you “just” thought…! You thought you’ve never seen such an ugly creature in y-your life!”

“That’s not…”

“Toko, she really didn’t mean it. I can promise you that,” Kizakura reassured.

“Hmph. How pathetic,” said a tall blonde boy with glasses.

Toko suddenly grinned and blushed. “Ehehheheeee…”

He looked away with disgust. “Name’s Byakuya Togami. Ultimate affluent progeny.”

“...don’t you have anything else to say?” Munakata asked.

“No. I don’t waste time interacting with commoners.”

Chiaki could faintly make out someone mumbling “jerk” under their breath. It turned out to be someone a few feet away with gigantic locks of hair wearing a jacket over his shoulders. Everyone stared at him. He seemed to recognize that fact but was blissfully unaware of the reason for it. Instead he grinned. “I’m Yasuhiro Hagakure, Hiro for short! I’m the ultimate clairvoyant! Take it easy, will ya? I know I will!”

Next to him was a pale boy with light hair and gold eyes, wearing a white button-up and a green tie with a dragon symbol. “Um...my name is...Ryota Mitarai...I’m the ultimate animator…”

 _“The_ Ryota Mitarai?! No way!” Hifumi squealed. “The legendary animator who directed episode 115 of pretty princess piggles at the age of ten?! Oh, it is an honor to meet you!”

Ryota looked away and shyly smiled. “Thanks…”

She remembered him. He directed the cutscenes of _Highway Battles XVII._ In her opinion, the game itself was trash, but she appreciated the cutscenes.

“Hihiiii!” A ditzy-looking girl with red hair and eyes shouted, bringing Chiaki out of her thoughts. “I’m Ryoko Otonashi, and I’m, um…” She fished through a notebook in her hand. “Oh yeah! I’m the ultimate analyst! It’s soooo nice to meet you!”

“Friggin’ weirdo…” A guy with bright red hair wearing a white jacket and shirt with piercings grumbled.

“I heard that,” Munakata chastised. “No insulting other students. And if you’re so willing to talk trash, why don’t you say your name?”

“‘Bout damn time! Yo! The name’s Leon Kuwata. What’s up?”

“And your talent?” Munakata pressed.

Leon groaned. “Cmon, really? No one cares about that stuff.”

“Now Ruruka’s curious! What is it? What is it?”

“Fiiiiine,” He moaned. “I’m the ultimate baseball star. There, happy?”

_I wonder why he doesn’t like his talent…_

“Alright, now that just leaves four...five? No, just four of us. There must’ve been a typo or something with an extra space,” Munakata said as he checked off some names on his clipboard. “Who’s next?”

Ryoko was nearby frantically scribbling in her notebook. She looked up with a glint in her eyes. “Oooh! Me! Me! I wanna go next!”

“Hm? You already went, Ryoko.”

She tilted her head, a blank look on her face. “Did I? Oops! I guess I was so busy writing everything down I forgot! Sorry!”

“It’s okay, I get airheaded sometimes too!” A busty girl with a red jacket and a ponytail said. She turned to the rest of the group. “Hi! I’m Aoi Asahina. But my friends call me Hina! I’m the ultimate swimming pro!”

That left three people; a girl wearing gloves with light purple hair, a cheery blue haired girl wearing a sailor uniform, and a quiet looking girl with short black hair and freckles wearing beige gloves, a short-sleeved button-up with a ribbon and a brown skirt. The blue-haired girl spoke up first.

“Hi, I’m Sayaka Maizono, the ultimate pop sensation! I look forward to getting to know you!” She beamed and giggled a little. For some reason, Chiaki thought it was a little fake. She’d never really “gotten” all the hype about idols anyway.

Kizakura looked over to the purple haired girl and they briefly exchanged glances. She looked back to the group. After several seconds of awkward silence, she finally said, “My name is...Kyoko Kirigiri. The ultimate detective.”

_An ultimate detective? She must be really cool…_

This left the dark haired girl. Everyone turned to her expectantly. She cringed, and Chiaki felt a pang of sympathy.

The dark haired girl inhaled. “My name is Mukuro Ikusaba, and I am...the ultimate soldier.”

There was a brief pause as the information set in. Then panic broke out.

“Wait, what the hell?!” Hiro cried. “You’re telling me they’re inviting _killers_ into hope’s peak?!” 

“Th-th-that’s so h-horrible…” Toko shivered, clutching at her sides.

“Don’t look at me, I wasn’t the one who scouted her,” Kizakura chimed in.

“Eeeek! R-Ruruka is suuuuper scaaaared!”

“Wait,” Mukuro weakly defended. “It’s not…”

“We should tie her up! She’s a danger!” Leon shouted.

“Don’t be a pervert!” Ryota snapped back. “That’s sexual harassment!”

“Sexual harassment is the least of our—”

_“Just what on earth are you all saying?!”_

The rowdy group went quiet. Everyone was shocked to see the booming voice was from none other than Ryoko.

“You guys are being so mean! Just because her talent seems scary doesn’t mean she’s a bad person!” she lectured. “You aren’t even giving her a chance to explain herself! Shame on you!”

“What Ryoko is saying is correct,” Munakata added. “Though I disagree with some of the decisions that other scouts have made...she would not have been invited on this trip if she were truly dangerous. We shouldn’t shame anybody here. If I see any bullying or isolating going on, I will enact swift punishment. Understood?”

“Yes sir Mr. Munakata sir!” Taka shouted. He turned to Mukuro and dramatically bowed. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Mukuro’s cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. Sayaka giggled, and the tension seemed to dissipate.

“Well, looks like we’re all done here, then,” Kizakura announced. “Now that everyone is accounted for, let’s head inside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this chapter basically being all introductions. A part of me feels like it’s redundant, but it also helps to try and get into Chiaki’s head to see what she thinks of the other characters, and introduce ones that weren’t present in the games. Also, this is important: I’m kind of a slow writer, and I’m also simultaneously watching both of the games while writing this fic. I DO have enough information on the plot that I am able plan out the whole plot of this fic already. I’m hoping to finish the prologue and chapter 1 before I post again. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think in the comments!


	2. Prologue: fun in the sun part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group all explore various parts of the island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember when I said I would wait until I write the whole prologue before I posted again? I lied. I guess I just needed the attention. In any case, next chapter SHOULD be the end of the prologue.

Once attendance was taken, everyone was ushered inside the main hotel building. Mukuro didn’t really know why they couldn’t have the meeting outside or take attendance inside to begin with, but she decided not to question it.

“Okay, so first things first, we need to divide up cottages,” Kizakura began once the group was inside the lobby. “Unfortunately, there are only 16 cottages and our group totals 19, so some of us will have to share.”

“Can’t we just use the old hotel building?” Ryota asked.

“It’s closed for renovations,” Munakata replied.

“Huh?! Who the hell is renovating it?!” Leon cried. “We’re totally on our own here!”

“Doesn’t matter, since there’s no rooms in it anyway,” Kizakura replied. “It’s just a place to hold parties and stuff. Probably real dusty in there, too.”

“Ew! Ruruka can’t stand dust!”

“I’d like to have a party,” Sayaka thought aloud.

“Hell yeah!” Hiro cheered. “We could drink ‘till we black out!”

Chiaki looked flabbergasted. “But we’re underage!”

“Oh, yeah, I’m actually 20...long story.”

“I—what?!” Munakata looked shocked. “You’re the same age as me?! Kizakura, I’m disappointed in you!”

“He’s good at what he does,” he replied.

Munakata just sighed.

“In any case...Kizakura and I will share a cottage to ease the burden!”

“Hey, I never agreed to that! Don’t rope me into things without my permission!” He gave the others a pleading look. “W-why don’t we give the kids a chance to figure it out…?”

Munakata rolled his eyes. “Fair enough. But if worst comes to worst, we _will_ share a cottage and you will _not_ complain about it.” He raised his voice for the others to hear. “One last rule: boys and girls cannot enter each others’ cottages! I don’t care if you want to ‘hang out’, do it in the lobby or find somewhere else! I’ll give you all a while to discuss these arrangements, and you can speak to me once you’ve made a decision.” 

The group burst into conversation, most of them trying to find ways to avoid having to share. Mukuro pulled Ryoko aside. “Hey...I just wanted to thank you for defending me earlier. I haven’t really...had anyone help me out like that...ever.”

“Oh, that’s no problem! I could tell just by looking at you that you’re a nice person!”

“By the way, um…” Mukuro rubbed her forearm. “I-if you don’t mind, um...could we maybe be roommates? I feel like…you’ve got my back, I guess…”

“For real?!” Ryoko shouted. Mukuro cringed as several people turned to look at them. “Nooo way! The ultimate soldier wants to be my roommate?! I’m so flattered! Hey Mr.Munakata, Mukuro and I are gonna share a cottage together! We’re gonna be beeeeest friends!”

“That’s good to hear,” he replied as he wrote it down on his clipboard.

Nearby, Ryota and Hifumi were chattering excitedly.

“I can’t believe it’s really you!” Ryota said, grinning from ear to ear. “Your comic pretty piggles 17 was amazing! You managed to expand on the source material in a way I could’ve never even imagined!”

“I could say the same thing!” Hifumi responded, practically glowing with excitement. “I’ve been dreaming of meeting you for years! You’re my inspiration, my hope! Hey, can we be buddies? Can I call you buddy?”

“S-sure...pal!”

 _They sure seem to get along well,_ Mukuro thought.

She watched as Ryota and Hifumi as well as Hina and Sakura (who she hadn’t noticed talking) made their way over to Munakata, presumably for each pair to declare that they would become roommates. Kizakura’s silent cheer supported that theory.

“Alright!” Munakata announced. “It looks like we’ve come to an agreement. Now there’s one last thing to take care of.”

He and Kizakura started passing out flat electronic devices, similar to smartphones. When Mukuro touched a button on the side, the screen lit up and displayed her name, face and the word **e-handbook** on it.

“These are your e-handbooks. They’re very expensive, so you better not break or lose them,” Kizakura said. “You’ll have to pay for a replacement. Keep them safe.”

“They’ll also function as your hotel keys,” Munakata added. “We’ll help you guys get assigned to your cottages in a minute.”

“Look at that! There’s a little virtual pet in there!” Sayaka beamed. “It’s supposed to track your steps!”

“Oooh, maybe if Ruruka shakes it she can make her pet grow faster! Shake shake shake!”

She vigorously shook the e-handbook until it loudly buzzed and the screen went red with the word CHEATER displayed on it. “Dammit! I mean—oopsie!”

Mukuro eyed her from across the room. She wasn’t the best at reading people, but she could already tell Ruruka was putting up a front. She heard stomping and turned to find Ryoko running in place, grinning at the screen.

Ten minutes later, everyone had registered their e-handbooks with their cottages and dropped off their luggage. Munakata said that they were free to explore the island as they wished, and so the group dispersed.

-

“Whatcha gonna go look at?” Ryoko asked as she and Mukuro walked along.

“There’s a building nearby that I didn’t get to look at before...there.” She pointed over to it. 

“Oh look, Tacky’s already there! Hi taco!”

“It’s ‘Taka’, Ryoko…” She muttered as her companion bounced away. They’d briefly chatted as everyone was putting their luggage away and he cheerfully declared that it was his nickname. He was indeed there, grinning widely and waving.

“Hello, you two! Come to take a look at the airport with me? It really is a sight to behold!”

It wasn’t, really. Just a small airstrip and a couple of old propeller planes. She didn’t get why the island even bothered.

_An airport? But didn’t we arrive here by boat?_

“Hey…” Mukuro began, “Could we use those planes to escape the island if we needed to?”

“Why would we need to do that?” Taka said cheerfully. “After all, this is our wonderful school trip!”

“I think she means in an emergency...like if that big volcano blew up! Wouldn’t that be amazing?” Ryoko said with an oddly cheerful expression on her face.

“What?! Of course not!”

“Well, if there _is_ an emergency, I do have some experience piloting,” Mukuro added. “I don’t have an actual pilot’s license, but we can make do.”

“Wh-whaaaaat?! But—that’s illegal!”

“You’re so cool, Mukuro!” Ryoko scribbled that bit of information in her notebook.

-

At the rocketpunch market, Ryota and Hifumi were filling up a grocery cart with various junk food items.

“Whoa! Look at the size of those bottles of coke!” Hifumi pointed. “They have to be at least a gallon!”

“They’re huge…” Ryota whispered with a sense of awe. “All these snacks...how are we gonna get them back to the hotel?”

“Ooh! I know! Hey Miss Ogami, could you please help buddy and I bring some snacks back?”

“No,” she replied, turning away from the rack of wetsuits she and Hina were currently browsing. “If you don’t have the strength to carry them, don’t buy that much.”

“We’ll buy donuts for you,” Ryota offered.

Hina’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll help you guys out!”

Sakura folded her arms. “Why are you two buying so many snacks anyway?”

“Pal and I are gonna have an anime marathon!” Ryota said cheerfully. “21 straight episodes of Daitarn 3!”

“Aw, I haven’t seen the first two…”

“No, no, that’s just the name of the robot! It’s not a sequel!” Hifumi said reassuringly. “Hey Miss Ogami, would you like to join us?”

Everyone looked expectantly at her. She glanced at Aoi and exhaled.

“...I suppose…”

The other three cheered.

-  
Munakata decided to take a walk over to the nearby ranch. He felt like seeing the animals, a much needed break after spending a few hours dealing with the rowdy group of teens. Much to his annoyance, Hiro and Leon decided to tag along. Oddly enough, so had Celeste, forcing poor Hiro (he never would’ve imagined pitying that weirdo) to carry her dark lacy umbrella.

“There had better be goats over there,” Leon said as they approached it. “What’s the point of a farm if there aren’t any goats?”

“What, do you think goats are cute or something?” Hiro asked.

“Wh—no! I just...farms are supposed to have goats! That’s just the rule!”

“I certainly hope that there are ravens,” Celeste murmured. “I have been looking for one for quite some time. It would be an excellent addition to my aesthetic.”

Munakata didn’t know why she thought a farm would have a raven, but he decided not to comment. Up ahead of them was the ranch, with a large sign labeled Usami Corral.

Much to Celeste and Leon’s disappointment, there were no goats or ravens. Instead there were several chickens, a pig, and one feisty toucan.

“What kind of shitty farm is this?!” Leon whined. “All there is is a bunch of stupid birds and some plants!”

“My mom told me to avoid ‘weed’...” Hiro said. “That’s why I never took up gardening. Be careful, guys, it’s dangerous!”

“At least we’ll have fresh eggs and vegetables,” Munakata added. “There’s plenty of meat stored in the kitchen freezer, so we won’t have to slaughter any animals. That’s a potbelly pig. They’re meant as pets, not for food.”

“But still, a ranch with no people around...who’s gonna take care of the animals?”

“You are,” Celeste replied.

“Whaaaaat?!” Hiro cried. “Why me?!”

“Nice try, but _all_ of you are going to help take care of the animals. Including you, Celeste. I suggest you buy some boots and pants at the rocketpunch market.”

“Man, this is so dumb!” Leon whined. “Why do we have to do all these chores? I came here for a vacation!”

“Because it’s part of the way we are supposed to foster harmony, by working together. And volunteering for work meant we were able to go on this trip at a significantly reduced cost. Which means more spending money for you.”

“I refuse to stoop to such lowly activities as _farm work,”_ Celeste said venomously. 

“I refuse your refusal. And besides, there are farm chores that don’t involve getting dirty. There are plants to take care of, for example.”

“Fine. But do not expect anything above the minimum.” With that, she turned and walked away.

“Jeez, what’s _her_ problem?”

“Friggin pretentious b—”

_“Leon.”_

-

After Kizakura finished unpacking in his cottage and hung out there for a while, he decided to go for a stroll. He happened to pass the beach, and spotted Kyoko staring out at the ocean.

“So,” Kizakura said to Kyoko as he walked up, “How are you doing? You seemed pretty hesitant earlier.”

“Don’t act like we already know each other. I told you specifically to stop doing it.”

“Jeez, I knew you were cold, but holy crap…” he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m coming from a place of concern as your teacher! It’s the same as when I talked to Chiaki.”

“How is she doing?”

“Fine, if a little sleepy. She’s in the lobby playing on the arcade machine if you want to talk to her. I can’t guarantee that she’ll listen, though. She’s kind of in the zone.”

“That’s nice to hear. I’ve got a question for you, though...why do you think there are video cameras everywhere?”

“Probably for security reasons...I don’t think that they’re actually working, though, since as far as I can tell we’re the only people on the island. Still, I wouldn’t mess with them.”

“And the monitors?”

“Oh, those? They’re video intercoms. They’re so someone with admin privileges over can make announcements to everyone else. Munakata and I are the only ones with the passwords to use them, though...”

“Huh. You’d think that it would be able to go both ways...wouldn’t that be easier to communicate?”

Kizakura just rolled his eyes. “Knowing the rest of the bunch, they’d just abuse it to yell at each other and disrupt things. Besides, it would require taking them apart one by one.”

“Mmm...I was thinking something along those lines, too...I did take a look at the video cameras, though, and there’s nothing physically connecting them to anything. Same with those monitors.”

“Wouldn’t make sense to bring a bunch of wires out onto the beach. The water would ruin them. Plus they’re pretty obviously battery-powered. Hence why you can hang them on, say, a palm tree.” He motioned over to a coconut tree nearby to emphasize his point.

“That’s pretty bizarre. Why not just build a post to put them on?”

“No clue,” he replied.

“There’s no WiFi on the island, either. What’s connecting them to each other?”

“A private network, maybe? Though that _would_ be a problem if it were to go down. It _is_ pretty weird that we weren’t given information on that.”

“Very strange indeed…” she murmured as she continued to watch the ocean.

-

Chiaki had sat down to play on the arcade machine immediately after the meeting and had been there ever since. She was in The Zone, that perfect place where all of reality melted away and it was just her and the game. 

A loud noise jolted her out of her trance, causing her to lose. She turned to the source of the noise and saw Toko leaning over to pick up some books she had dropped. Then she shrunk back into the shadows, watching somebody. Chiaki followed her line of sight, a little concerned, and found Byakuya lounging in a nearby chair reading a thick novel. She got up and decided to warn him about the fact that he was being watched...she had seen enough J-horror movies to know that it wouldn’t end well. 

“Stay away from me, you inbred plebeian.”

“Excuse me?!”

“That right,” He spat. “People who isolate themselves into pointless games instead of facing reality...are lower than trash.”

“Why are you so mean?! I was just trying to—”

“Don’t remind me of that insect. I’d like to forget about her existence. If I ignore her, she’ll probably get bored and leave. But I’ve wasted enough time with you already.” He went back to his book.

Chiaki just stared at him for a minute, then turned around and walked away.

 _Honestly,_ she thought, _He’s such a jerk!_

She decided to go upstairs to the restaurant and hang out there.

When she arrived, Mondo was leaning back in a chair, his feet on a table.

“Yo,” He waved at her.

“Hey hey…” she replied a little nervously. She made her way over to the kitchen, and spotted Ruruka making some pastries. 

“Ooh! Hi Chiaki! Hey, can Ruruka call you lil’ Aki from now on?”

“Sure. What are you doing?”

“Ruruka’s making pastries! Try them! **_Try them now!_ ** _”_

_She’s really pushy about this...I might as well._

She looked over the treats and found a blue macaron. She popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened.

“Wow...this is really, really good!”

“Right! Ruruka can’t trust anyone who doesn’t eat her sweets! Ruruka’s so glad lil’ Aki tried them!” She gave Chiaki a smile that seemed a little too cutesy to be real.

“Hi guys! What’s up?”

Chiaki jumped back. She hadn’t heard Sayaka coming up the stairs.

“Hi lil’ Saya! Ruruka made treats!”

“Oh! They look great! I think I’ll hold off until after dinner, though…”

Ruruka pouted and Chiaki tilted her head. “Hey hey...who’s making dinner again?”

“Huh? I thought it was Ruruka.”

“No way! Ruruka only makes sweets!”

“Who’s gonna make it, then? I’m fuckin’ starving.”

That was Mondo, who had strolled in while the other girls were talking and grabbed a couple eclairs.

“Mondo!” Sayaka scolded. “That’s terribly rude!”

“It’s okay, Ruruka’s happy he likes her sweets too!”

“Not that, his comments! You can’t just say that out of the blue!”

Mondo rolled his eyes. “Someone’s gonna have to make it eventually.”

“Then why don’t _you_ make it?”

“I don’t know any fuckin’ recipes, that’s why!”

“So then it’s decided,” Sayaka said, turning to the others. “Mondo will help me make dinner. My specialty is chili oil. Would anyone like to help?”

“Hey, who said I would help?!”

Chiaki ignored that comment and decided to speak up.

“Um...I guess I could help?” She volunteered. “I think I saw a recipe book nearby…”

“Ruruka is good at forcing other people to do stuff! Ruruka will find other helpers!”

-

In the end, Sayaka, Chiaki, a reluctant Mondo, and an even more reluctant Ryota all helped out making dinner. Munakata and Kizakura arrived just in time and both praised the group for taking initiative. Chiaki blushed as they laid on the compliments. Once she finally sat down with her food, Ryoko immediately came over and slammed her tray on the table.

“Hello again!” She greeted her. “You looked lonely, so Mukuro and I decided to come and hang out! Right, Mukuro?”

Mukuro looked down at her tray and then back up again, and then placed it down. “Sure,” she replied.

“Hey hey...is the food good?”

“I don’t quite know yet….” Mukuro took a bite. “Wow...this really _is_ good. Good job.”

“I knew it would be delicious!” Ryoko added. “Using my ultimate analyst skills, I deduced it would be the tastiest food in the whooooole wooorld!”

Chiaki felt her cheeks burn. It was unexpected, but nice.

-

Eventually, people started turning in for the night. Chiaki was one of the last, only leaving when Kizakura nagged her to get off the arcade machine. She returned to her cottage, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

-

“Hey, Mukuro...are you scared?”

“...”

She stared up at the ceiling. The lights were out, and the only thing illuminating their small cottage was the moonlight coming in through the windows.

“I don’t...want to forget about this,” Ryoko continued, unprompted. “I’m too tired to write stuff down, but...I wanna remember how peaceful this is.”

Mukuro turned her head so she could see Ryoko’s futon next to hers. 

“Will...will you remember this for me? Please?” There were tears in her eyes. Such a happy go lucky girl was on the verge of tears. Mukuro couldn’t place the exact reason, but she had a vague idea; She’d been through enough lonely nights herself to recognize that expression.“Yeah...I will.”

“I feel like...something terrible is about to happen,” She whispered. “And I don’t know why.”

Mukuro took her hand.

“I’m sure...that it’ll be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Ryoko, you have no idea. Everyone’s favorite bunny and least favorite little shit both show up next chapter, so look forward to it!


	3. Prologue: Fun in the sun part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an eventful first morning, two new figures appear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Here it is! This chapter is my longest yet. There’s a lot of interaction (and I had to cut a lot of it) so hopefully it doesn’t feel too bloated.

It was around 7 am, and Munakata and Kizakura had managed to get the students out of their cottages. This was apparently a mandatory meeting, to be held every day, much to Chiaki’s annoyance. She was always a heavy sleeper, and it took Kizakura practically breaking down her door to wake her up. As it was, she was about ready to pass out and slam her face into her bowl of cereal. Most of the others had gathered already. Taka was chipper, lecturing everyone about the virtues of getting up early. Byakuya was in the corner sipping a cup of coffee, while Toko (who she was still creeped out by) stared at him from afar. Mondo was shoveling his mouth full of waffles; when they’d discovered the waffle machine the guys had gone nuts. Leon, Hiro, and Hifumi had all finished their food and were now cheering him on. Aoi, Sakura, Ryoko and a reluctant looking Mukuro were all gathered at a table with a large box of donuts. Ruruka was in the kitchen making assorted treats; Chiaki made a note to get some later. The rest were scattered about, chatting about things she didn’t really know or care about.

Munakata stood up and walked into the middle of the dining area. He cleared his throat and began.

“I need your attention, everyone. Right now, the breakfast meeting is about to commence! I’ll be going over some of the things we didn’t cover yesterday.”

“What, Mr.Kizakura isn’t helping?” Asked Mukuro.

Taka clicked his tongue. “That lazy good for nothing,” he muttered.

“I heard that!”

“Eeeeek! I-I’m sorry, Mr. Munakata!”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to...we’ll discuss this later. Anyway! Right now, we need to divide up chores between our group. You’ll all be pitching in every morning from eight thirty to noon.”

“Huh?! But pal and I were gonna continue our anime marathon!” Ryota whined.

“I hate to object, but I need the mornings to do my training,” Sakura added. “This is...inconvenient.”

“Unfortunately, Sakura, you’ll just have to get up earlier for your training from now on. And as for you, Ryota, you’re fortunate enough that because you volunteered in the kitchen last night you’re off for the morning chores. I can’t say the same for Hifumi, though.”

Sakura seemed satisfied enough with that answer, although Ryota pouted.

“What chores are there to do anyway?” Hina asked. “I didn’t see anything except the rocketpunch market.”

“Huh?” Sayaka asked. “Didn’t you see the flier? There’s a bunch of places! They even have a little farm!”

“Some stupid farm…I’m still mad it doesn’t have any friggin’ goats…” Leon grumbled.

Kizakura spoke up next. “Why don’t we do this: we assign people to different groups that change out on a weekly basis. Every week a person will be working on a different area on the island. That way no one gets stuck in a chore they hate, and no one gets to hog any of the chores that might be preferable.”

“Ruruka wants to work in the kitchen!” She shouted. Kizakura gave her a glance.

“I think it would be better if we did things randomly,” Taka suggested. “That way, no one gets preferential treatment!”

“That’s a good idea,” Kizakura praised. “With some exceptions, I think it should work.” He took off his hat and placed it on the table. “Everyone! I’ll go grab a piece of paper and you’ll write down your names. We’ll put ‘em in here and pick names out at random. There’s no ultimate lucky student here, so there won’t be any bias. Does anyone have objections?”

“I wanna be with Mukuro! I wanna be with Mukuro! Pleeeeeeease let me be with Mukuro!” Ryoko shrieked.

Munakata sighed. “I’ll admit that you’re a special case, Ryoko...Mukuro, do you think you could handle being her partner for now?”

“No problem,” Mukuro replied. Chiaki was amazed by her patience.

“Let Ruruka work in the kitchen forever!” Ruruka demanded.

“But then you’ll have to work on all the meals, not just dessert,” Kizakura pointed out. She deflated a little and pouted. “So mean…”

And without further ado, the name drawing began.

In the end the group was divided into four groups. Group one consisted of Aoi, Sayaka, Hifumi, and Leon, who were in charge of cleaning the hotel and preparing lunch. Group two was Celestia, Ruruka, Munakata, Sakura and Byakuya, who were to be responsible for the farm. Munakata had to read Byakuya the riot act to get him to stop complaining, and Celeste and Ruruka kept glaring daggers at each other. Chiaki pitied poor Sakura and Munakata, who would have to keep those three in line. Group three, which would be working at the rocketpunch market, consisted of Ryota, Kyoko, Mondo, Taka and Toko; the three quietest stuck with two of the loudest. Finally, Mukuro, Ryoko, Kizakura, Hiro and Chiaki were in charge of general trash pickup and surveying the island, a role so vague she could only assume it was made to give the ditzy Ryoko something to do.

Once everyone was assigned, it was off to work for everyone.

-

By the time everyone was done, it was just past noon, and lunch was being served. Munakata came in looking positively exhausted; Byakuya was fuming and Sakura was standing between Ruruka and Celeste to keep them from tearing each other to pieces. Chiaki did not envy them.

She had just managed to find a nice, isolated table to eat at when Celestia abruptly slammed her tray on it and sat down.

“Hello,” She said to her, who internally groaned. Not caring, she continued, “I have been meaning to interact with you more. It is a relief to find someone who is able to remain quiet in the face of frustration, unlike...certain people.”

The words were so obviously directed at Ruruka Chiaki had to fight back a cringe. Before she could reply, Sakura and Aoi walked up to the table, trays in hand.

Celeste turned to face them.

“Hello, you two,” she greeted, clearly displeased by this turn of events.

_ Great, more people. At least these two aren’t as scary...I think. _

“Hi Chiaki! Hi Celeste! Mind if we sit with you?”

“Go ahead,” Celeste replied, not bothering to wait for Chiaki to speak.

Sakura at least spared her a glance before they both sat down.

“So how was…” Sakura gave Hina a pleading look before she could finish her sentence. “...Your breakfast?” She finished lamely.

“Disappointing,” Celeste remarked. “I was forced to make milk tea all by myself. It was a miracle that the proper supplies were available.”

“...isn’t that just tea with milk? It doesn’t seem that hard.”

Chiaki instantly regretted those words when she saw Celeste’s face. “How  **_dare_ ** you! I’ll—”

“Celeste. She meant no harm,” Sakura intervened. “I suppose you could say she is...ignorant of these details.” She gave Chiaki an apologetic look.

“...I suppose,” she replied.

As they were talking, the speakers on the monitors suddenly came to life. 

“Um, um, testing! Um, hello! I-I have an announcement to make! Everyone please gather at Jabberwock park for more information, please!”

Everyone looked up from their food, confused. 

“What was that?” Leon asked.

“Could that be one of the people in charge of the island?” Hiro asked.

“That would be rather strange,” Munakata said. “I don’t recall there being any other administrators here.”

“I do remember one name coming up,” Kizakura added. “I can’t remember it off the top of my head, but I’m pretty sure it was a woman. I say we gather over there and see what the big deal is.”

“Okay, but can we at least finish our food first?” Asked Hiro.

“Fair enough,” Munakata replied. “I’m going to go get my sword just in case, though. If anyone tries to harm you, stand behind me.”

“I will assist you in this endeavor,” Sakura offered.

“Wait, what the hell?! Mr.Munakata has a sword?!” Leon shouted. 

-

Once everyone had finished their food, the group made their way over to the park. There was no one around.

“Is this some kind of prank?” Kizakura asked.

“Whoever is doing this, come out!” Munakata shouted. “Don’t waste our time!”

“About time!” A squeaky voice cried. “Why did you keep me waiting for so long?”

A pink rabbit jumped out from behind the fountain. 

“Aaaaaaah! A ghost!” Hiro screamed.

“Omigosh, she’s sooooooo cuuuuuuuute! Ruruka wants to make macarons that look like her!”

“Wh-what the hell?!” Mondo shouted. “Is that a stuffed animal?!”

“That’s right!” The rabbit replied, putting her paws on her hips. “I am your squeezably soft teacher, Magical Miracle Girl Usami! Aka...Usami! Nice to meet you all!”

“That’s absurd! There’s no way a stuffed animal could be a teacher. Besides, Kizakura and I are already here. Having another one would be redundant!”

“You fuckin’ kidding me?” Mondo snarled and cracked his knuckles. “This has gotta be a joke. Whoever’s behind this better come the fuck out so I can cave your goddamn skull in!”

“Eeeeeek! Don’t hit me!” Usami wailed.

“More importantly...” Kizakura mused, “Just what are you?”

“I’m a rabbit! It’s a soft and fluffy animal! That’s what I am...a singing, dancing talking rabbit mascot.”

“Do not be ridiculous,” Sakura said as she folded her arms. “Rabbits do not talk, they do not sing, and they definitely do not walk on two legs.”

“And they aren’t magical girls either!” Ryota added. “The only magical girl that’s even remotely similar to that is sailor moon!”

“Waaaaaah...so mean…” Usami cried.

Everyone looked around, baffled.

“I’m confused…” Sayaka said.

“Is that real?!” Ryoko shouted. “Should I write it down? It’s not a hallucination, right?!”

“I’m seeing it too,” Mukuro replied.

“Usami...that name sounds familiar…” Hiro said thoughtfully. “Hey, wait a minute, I remember! The ranch has a sign with ‘Usami corral’ written on it!”

“Usami is harmless, then,” Munakata reasoned. “Come to think of it, I  _ do _ remember something on the pamphlet saying that she was the owner of this island...”

“Oh, I get it!” Aoi said. “That’s why there’s no people around! There’s probably robots taking care of everything! That rabbit must be her way of communicating! She’s just a shut-in!”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen it before...” Kizakura said.

“Then why does she not simply communicate through the various monitors?” Celeste asked, stroking a lock of hair.

“Like I said before, those are just one-way. If she wants to have an actual conversation, she’d have to visit in person.”

“Huh?! Nobody told us that!” Ryoko said. She pulled out another notebook and started writing something down.

“So that means we don’t have to do chores anymore, right? Right?”

“Nice try, Hiro, but no. You’re still doing chores.”

“Oh come on!”

Usami continued sobbing. 

“Waaaaah...you’re ignoring me…”

“Then offer us a proper explanation,” Celeste said. “Do you really expect us to trust a talking rabbit over the authority figures already present?”

“I don’t recall you trusting us authority figures either,” Munakata muttered. Celeste either didn’t notice his remark or chose not to comment on it.

Before Usami could offer an explanation, however, the sky turned dark. A wind picked up. Everyone started looking at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Oh no…” Usami whimpered, “No, no, no, no! Th-this wasn’t supposed to happen! He’s not supposed to be here!”

“Who’s ‘he’?” Kizakura asked as he held onto his hat.

“Usami, whatever you are, you had better have a good explanation for this,” Munakata demanded as he carefully unsheathed his sword. She started to tremble in fear.

“Th-this s-seems...d-different...f-from when she sh-showed up...” Toko muttered.

“Yeah, man! I’m totally getting negative auras! Something ain’t right!”

Suddenly, the wind stopped. An eerie silence fell over the park.

**“Puhuhuhuhu…”**

“What is this...it’s worse than the laugh of Golden Bat…” Ryota whimpered. 

**“Puhuhuhuhu…”**

“Who the hell are you?!” Munakata shouted, raising his sword. “Get out here and face me, you coward!”

**“Puhuhuhuhu!!”**

“Hey-hey!” Usami shouted, waving a toylike stick around. “Where are you? Show yourself!”

**“Ahhhhh-hahahahahahaha!”**

A figure seemed to fall out of the sky, landing perfectly on his feet with a light bounce. It was a black and white bear, about the same size as Usami.

“Why hello there! So sorry to keep you waiting! I had some... _ business  _ to attend to. Long time no see, guys!”

“This is getting out of hand. Now there’s two of them!” Hifumi shrieked.

“Hmph! Don’t be ridiculous!” The bear shouted. “That twat Usami is nowhere near my level!”

“And just who the fuck are  _ you?” _ Mondo snarled.

“I am Monokuma, the headmaster of this academy!”

“Bullshit!” Kizakura shouted. “The headmaster of hope’s peak is Jin Kirigiri!”

“Not anymore, he ain’t! As of right now, I’m taking his position! And now that I’ve made my dashing appearance, I have to say…” He dramatically trailed off, “Lame! This is so lame! Lamer than the lamest lamesauce with a side of mashed potatoes garnished with dumb dill! Oh...I’m hungry…”

Everyone, Munakata included, just stood there absolutely gobsmacked. Usami spoke up.

“I knew it was you! You’re not supposed to be here! How did you get in here?”

“Aww, don’t sweat the deets! Whatcha gonna do, try to stop me?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do!” She shouted. “With my magic stick, I’ll protect my students!”

“But what about us?!” Kizakura cried.

Usami leapt in the air, raising her magic stick. Sparks flew out of it towards Monokuma. He effortlessly dodged them as everyone shielded their eyes. He leapt up into the air and brought his fists down on Usami, punting her into the ground. She feebly tried to wave her magic stick again, but Monokuma slammed down on it, breaking it in two.

“Nooo! My magic stick!” She cried.

“Dun-dun-da-dahhhhh...victory!” He proclaimed, looming over her. “Now, what to do after my flawless victory...first of all, you’re too plain! White rabbits are fair too plain! Soooo, I’m gonna remake you to resemble my glorious visage! Prepare yourself for the Monokuma makeover!”

The two proceeded to brawl, kicking up a cloud of dust while the rest of the group stood and watched.

“Ugh! Stop it!” Usami cried. The dust cleared, and now the weeping rabbit was half pink and half white, wearing a diaper.

“Ta-da! The epitome of fashion! I hereby dub you...Monomi!”

“Waaaaah! Monokuma ruined Usami!” Ruruka cried. “Somebody do something!”

“Bah, you kids don’t know anything about fashion these days,” Monokuma replied dismissively. “In any case, as of today, this school trip is now under  _ my _ jurisdiction! And for my first act as the new headmaster and lead teacher of this trip...I’m gonna make some changes!”

Everyone gawked at him. Everyone, that is, except Munakata.

“Explain yourself!” He demanded, pointing his sword at the bear. “What do you want?!”

“Oh, nothing much…” he replied cutely. “Just a little bit of... **despair.** ”

“Despair?” Kizakura asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, come off it! Elderly people these days, they’re getting dementia faster and faster! Listen up, kiddos! From this moment forward, the  **killing school trip** will commence!”

“K-k-killing?!” Hiro stammered. “Wh-what are you saying?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? You guys are going to kill each other!

“This is ridiculous!” Munakata shouted. “I’ll never allow you to put anyone here at risk!” He charged forward and swung his sword. Monokuma somehow evaded it, but he managed to stomp on the bear’s head, sword poised to strike again. He was about to bring it down, when Monokuma suddenly cried out:

“Come to my aid! I call upon you, spears of gungnir!”

Munakata’s eyes widened. “Shit!” He barely managed to leap back in time before spears erupted out of the ground.

The entire group gasped. 

“Munakata, are you okay?” Kizakura said as he rushed to his side.

“I’m fine…” he replied, dazed.

“Puhuhuhu! Awesome reaction time there! You almost had me for a second! Now we managed to get off topic for a little bit, so let me explain the rules! It’s kinda boring to just leave the island after  _ getting along together, _ isn’t it?”

“No!” Monomi shouted. She ran up to Monokuma and tried to tackle him, but he backhanded her.

“Ow! It hurts a lot when you punch me!”

“Monomi, such a foolish child...as I was saying, if you want to leave this island, from now on you need to kill one of your friends!”

“I can hardly call anyone in this group of commoners a  _ friend,” _ Byakuya scoffed.

“K-kill our friends…?” Ryoko whimpered. Her hands were shaking so much she could barely process what was happening, let alone write it down.

“That’s right! And then, please make it through the class trial without getting caught!”

“How barbaric…” Celeste whispered. “I am assuming that there is a punishment should the culprit be caught, correct?”

“Smart girl! That’s right! Allow me to explain! If one of you gets murdered, the surviving members of the trip will have to participate in a class trial! The goal is to find the culprit, henceforth known as the blackened, among the innocent students, henceforth known as the spotless.

“During the trial, you’ll discuss who you believe the blackened is. At the end of the trial, you’ll all vote! If you pick the correct person, good for you! Only they will be punished. But if you pick the wrong person…

“Well, then everyone  _ else _ will be punished, and the killer will get to leave!”

“I take it that the ‘punishment” isn’t imprisonment,” Kizakura said.

“Bingo! The punishment...is execution! Smashed, burned, torn to pieces in a hurricane! Which we can do, by the way. The climactic finale of the class trial! Puhuhuhu, what sort of punishments will we get to see? I can’t wait to find out!”

“Bold of you to assume any of us are going to kill each other,” Taka seethed.

“Oh, but you will! Any method is fine, by the way. Bludgeoning, stabbing, strangling, whatever! I’m not choosy! I may even give extra points for creativity!”

“You’re disgusting,” Mukuro snarled. “I’m going to the airport, and we’re getting out of here!”

As if on cue, there was a distant explosion. The sound echoed throughout the island.

“Wouldn’t be too good of an idea now, would it?”

“Damn you…!”

“Well then! Why don’t we get this party started? Surge...O gods who dwell between light and darkness...in accordance with our contract, I summon thee now…”

“What is he talking about?!” Ryota cried.

“Come forth, Monobeasts!”

The statue in the center started to shake, and cracks appeared. Pieces of it started to fall away, finally, five gigantic robots burst forth, landing behind Monokuma and throwing several of the smaller members of the group off their feet.

“What the fuck…?” Mondo asked, incredulous.

“I…” Munakata gaped, as he and Kizakura stared in shock.

Chiaki was at a loss for words. This was the kind of thing you found in bad first person shooters or side scrollers, not real life. Why were there bosses at the very first level?

“Everyone, please stay back!” Monomi shouted. “I-I will protect everyone, even at the cost of my own life!”

“You did a poor job of that before,” Sakura remarked. She looked up at the monsters looming above them. “What are these hideous creatures…?”

“They’re not hideous, they’re monobeasts!” Monokuma shouted. “And you,  _ you,  _ **_you!_ ** You with your sickly sweet sense of justice! I’ve decided to make an example of you! It’s punishment time!”

On cue, the winged monobeast pulled out Gatling guns and unloaded all of its ammo onto Monomi. A bullet ricocheted and slashed Mukuro’s cheek, drawing blood, and she winced. By the time the smoke cleared, nothing was left except for Monomi’s bow, shredded by the bullets.

The gravity of the situation seemed to finally sink in. Ruruka cried. Hiro screamed. Munakata collapsed to his knees. Chiaki’s mind was swimming. It was only the first stage...and the helper character was already dead?! They hadn’t even gotten a tutorial level! This couldn’t be real. This was all just a nightmare, right? She would wake up in her cabin, and Mr.Munakata would come and get her…

“Ahh, delicious! This feeling of despair…making an example was the right call! Anyone up for a challenge now?”

Nobody made a move. Not Mondo, not Sakura, and especially not Munakata.

“Now then...enjoy the rest of your school trip! Ta-ta! I have work to do!”

And with that, he was off, his monobeasts vanishing along with him.

“What...what…” Hina stammered.

“No...Ruruka can’t stand this…!” Ruruka sobbed.

“Dammit...how are we supposed to go up against that bastard?!” Mondo shouted. “It’s totally impossible! We’ll end up being turned into butter!”

**_“Don’t lose hope!”_ **

The others all turned to Ryoko, who had abruptly shouted out the declaration.

“Hope…?” Hifumi asked.

“That’s right!” She said. “Those monobeasts are machines, not monsters! That means that someone is controlling them...and if we can find that person, then we can defeat them and leave! We can’t give up!”

“Ryoko is right,” Munakata added, stepping up and sheathing his sword. “We will find the person responsible for this travesty. I will not rest until they are brought to justice. And until then, I will protect you all from Monokuma as best I can.”

“Woo! You’re amazing, Mr.Munakata!” Taka gushed.

Byakuya cleared his throat.

“You may say that, but is it really true? It seems like you’re looking at the wrong target.”

“Byakuya—”

“No. Let me finish,” He demanded. “The real threat here isn’t Monokuma or the mastermind, is it? In reality...it’s everyone around us.”

Everyone turned and stared at each other. As harsh as his words were...they rang true. Chiaki had heard stories of even the most innocent of people being forced to take lives...could she really trust these strangers, who she had known for just over a day? It was possible that a killing would never occur, and that they would find a different means of escape. But those monobeasts...it would take an eternity of grinding to get to their level.

And not everyone was as patient as the ultimate gamer.

**Prologue**

**Fun in the sun**

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! The killing game has begun! Now I will probably plan out chapter one and hopefully have most of it posted sometime later this month. Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand daily life 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Monokuma’s hostile takeover, conflict has already begun to take root. Good thing there are adults on the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the beginning of chapter one! I really wanted to get this one out there, so sadly it’s not all that long. I’m trying to set a weekly schedule for now.

After the events in Jabberwock park, everyone returned to the hotel. Munakata decided to call off afternoon chores for the day. No one really bothered to go anywhere. At dinner, people just ate leftovers or packaged food from the pantry. Chiaki felt numb.

At the moment, she was lying on one of the pool recliners, staring up at the sky. It was clear, and full of stars. Back home in the city the light pollution made it so you couldn’t see anything, but now she could see thousands of tiny white dots, and even the Milky Way. It felt like they were gonna flutter down and land on top of her, like snow. After all that happened, that wouldn’t have phased her anymore.

Suddenly, the nearest monitor flickered on. She slowly turned her head towards it.

Monokuma appeared on the screen holding a martini.

“Ahem! Ahem! Attention everyone! Hope’s Peak Academy’s School Trip Executive Committee has an announcement to make! It is now 10 pm, and it is officially nighttime! You are free to roam around, but I wouldn’t recommend it. After all, you never know what could be lurking in the shadows. Better yet, keep your cottages locked and barricaded for extra security! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite...”

That was her signal to leave. She probably could’ve slept on the recliner, but the cool tropical air would’ve chilled her.

-

When Chiaki trudged back to her cottage and opened the door, the first thing she noticed was the security camera now in her room. It wasn’t there before. Monokuma probably installed it, the pervert. However, she was far too exhausted to care. She changed into her pajamas, placed her hairpin on the nightstand, turned off the lights, and slipped into bed. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She dreamt of long hair and blood, of blue eyes and sadistic laughter.

-

And so it begins.

Are you ready?

I know you can endure it. This hope. This despair. Mixing together, forming something unknown, something even I cannot predict.

What will happen, I wonder? What will triumph in the end?

Always remember.

You are mine.

And I am yours.

-

Chiaki woke up slowly, the sleepiness evaporating away like a puddle of water in sunshine. Her eyes remained closed for as long as possible, but eventually she became too restless to lie in bed any longer. She sat up and glanced at the clock. Seven fifteen. She was late for the morning meeting, and evidently no one had bothered to wake her up. Not surprising, given the events of the day before.

_ Oh well,  _ She thought.  _ I’m hungry...I guess I should go ahead and get some breakfast. _

Just as she was slipping her shirt off, Monokuma appeared out of nowhere. She jumped back and screamed.

“Rise and shine, ursine!” He announced cheerfully.

“W-what are you doing here?!”

“Aww, no ‘good morning’? How rude!”

That just earned another glare from her. He sighed.

“Well, little Miss I’m-too-good-to-appreciate-surprise-visits, I have a present for you!”

“A...present?”

“Bwahahahaha!” Monokuma threw his head back and laughed. “That’s right! I made a whole bunch of extra Monokuma plushies, so I’ve decided to start a treasure hunt! There’ll be special rewards for all the plushies you get! And it starts right here in this room!”

“What if I don’t want to—”

“Bzzzt! Nope!” He shouted, his face turning red. “I won’t let you out of here until you find it! You’d better get to work!”

And with that, he disappeared as quickly as he had shown up. Chiaki stood up and made her way to the door, which was indeed locked as he had said. Taking a glance at the security camera, she made her way over to the bathroom for a quick shower and to change her clothes in private.

Fifteen minutes later she walked out the door and began searching. She fruitlessly shifted through her game consoles, under her bed, and even behind the toilet. As she was about to give up, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and whipped around to see a Monokuma plushie wearing a seashell bikini stuck on the wall near the ceiling.

“Congratulations!” Monokuma shouted, appearing out of nowhere. She screamed again. Monokuma simply laughed again. He leapt up to the wall, and punted the plushie straight at Chiaki’s face. It hit her and when she pulled it off, Monokuma was gone. She heard a click from her door. It was probably unlocked.

-

As she made her way up to the hotel restaurant, she spotted Ryota, Sakura, Mukuro and Ryoko all gathered together at one table.

“Hihiiii!” Ryoko turned and waved cheerfully at Chiaki. She smiled in return. Ryoko was a nice girl.

“Good morning,” Sakura said after she drank her cup of tea. “I take it you were forced by Monokuma to find a stuffed animal as well?”

“Huh? Oh, I thought I was the only one,” She said.

“Nope,” Mukuro said. “Ryoko and I got hit with that too. Literally.”

“So I wasn’t the only one?” Chiaki asked. The others seemed to nod.

“Were it not for my quick reflexes, I would have likely gotten hurt by his throw as well,” Sakura added.

“With my super analysis, I was able to find the stuffed Monokuma easily! We were the second to arrive after Sakura!”

“Pal and I were pretty quick about it, too,” Ryota said. “He got super mad that it was blocking his limited edition Princess Piggles poster.”

As if on cue, Hifumi walked out of the kitchen with a bunch of sweets. Ruruka was right behind him, beaming.

“Buddy! Look! Ruruka let me make the hexagon gems from Demon Angel!”

“No way! Those are super rare!”

Chiaki watched the two get excited over the food as Ruruka happily placed it on the table. Ruruka smiled at her.

“Good morning lil’ Aki! Ruruka didn’t expect to see you up this early on your own! Ruruka is super happy!”

“Hey hey…” she responded, not sure whether to take her words as a compliment or an insult. “Wait...where is everyone else? Shouldn’t Hina be here with you, Sakura?”

“She went out for a walk,” Sakura replied. “Monokuma’s appearance deeply upset her.”

“That’s so sad...Ruruka has some hard candies that can make her feel better when she gets back. Maybe that’ll help!”

“Thank you, Ruruka. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The door swung open and Kizakura stomped in, cursing up a storm. 

“Damn Monokuma, locking me in, taking my liquor and making me search for half an hour…!”

Everyone else turned and stared at him. He scoffed and walked over to the coffee pot. Shortly thereafter Mondo walked in looking even angrier. Everyone silently agreed to leave them alone, even Ryoko. Others slowly filtered in over the course of the next hour; Munakata was the next to arrive, looking annoyed, then Taka, Leon, and surprisingly, Hiro. Chiaki stopped paying attention after that; the only thing she noticed was that by the time Celeste had arrived all of Ruruka’s sweets had been eaten, causing Ruruka to not-so-subtly make jabs at Celeste’s expense. It was exhausting just to watch.

By nine, the whole group had managed to get to the restaurant.

“It looks like everyone has arrived, so it’s time to start the morning meeting!” Munakata announced.

“Are you serious?” Leon said. “You’re just gonna go on like nothing happened? Come on, man!”

“Let him speak,” Kizakura responded. His crankiness had worn off once he’d eaten some food, and he was now mostly back to normal.

“Indeed, perhaps for once his words will contain more than just... _ hollow threats.” _

Ignoring Celeste’s venomous words, he continued.

“I understand the events of yesterday afternoon and this morning were...upsetting, to say the least. Monokuma has proven himself to be a threat. I won’t lie.”

“No shit,” Mondo grunted. “Get to the fuckin’ point!”

“But! In this situation, it is more important than ever to foster unity. Monokuma’s clear goal is to cause a rift between us, making it easier to manipulate people and drive them to violence. I cannot allow that. We need to establish a sense of normalcy here.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to keep making us do chores,” Hiro whined. Kyoko and Kizakura, who were at the same table, just rolled their eyes.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” He replied. Several of the lazier members of the group moaned.

“I guess I can see what you’re saying, but…” Ryota spared a glance at Celeste before continuing, “Isn't there still a chance of conflicts on a smaller scale? I’ve been seeing some arguments starting already, and we’re going to be all spread out…”

“Actually, that might not be the case, at least for today,” Kizakura spoke up. “Hina came back from her walk a few minutes ago and gave me a status update on the airport. The place is totally wrecked. There’s debris everywhere. I think we might need to cut the regular chores short and just focus on that all together.”

“And how, precisely, is that supposed to foster togetherness?”

The whole group turned to see Byakuya alone at a table, legs crossed. He took a sip of his coffee and continued.

“Work, in my experience, doesn’t breed solidarity. It breeds conflict. The lower ranking members grow to resent the higher ranking ones. People with authority abuse their power. Including—no, especially—you,  _ Mr.Munakata.” _

“How dare you!” Taka shouted. “Mr.Munakata is just trying to help!”

“Christ, man, you’re gonna cut yourself on that edge,” Mondo snarked. “You wanna talk about abusing power? Cause you look exactly like the kinda asshole who’d do that!”

“Don’t insult master!” Toko screeched, appearing out of the shadows.

“Master?” Kizakura raised his eyebrows. “Toko, what on earth is going on here?”

“We’re getting off track—”

“No one cares!” Celeste abruptly shouted, flipping Munakata the bird. “I’ve had enough of your preaching!”

Chiaki watched in horror as everyone started arguing among each other. She caught Byakuya smirking. 

_ Oh god, _ She thought,  _ This is exactly what he wanted. Is he already planning to kill someone? _

_ “That’s enough!” _ Someone shouted.

Everyone turned, expecting to see Ryoko, but instead it was...Mukuro?

“That’s...enough,” She repeated. “You guys...aren’t even trying to get along, are you…? Falling for bait...will just end up hurting people.”

“Y-you’re one to t-talk, you m-murderer,” Toko stuttered.

“Are you going to ignore her points based on your preconceptions?” Sakura folded her arms. “All of you are lacking in critical thinking. While blindly trusting others in this type of situation is naive, refusing to trust anyone is a folly in itself. Relentless cynicism will only cause your doom,” She finished, staring pointedly at Byakuya.

“This is ridiculous,” He spat. “Trust? What nonsense. I didn’t get to where I am today with  _ trust. _ This is a game now, not a vacation, and I intend to win. He stood up and tried to walk away, but Munakata stepped in front of him.

“Sakura is right. You’re pointlessly antagonizing people. Is this really how you intend to conduct yourself?”

“Get out of my way,” Byakuya commanded. Munakata refused to budge.

“Sit down,” he ordered, “And throw away that pride. It’ll be the death of you if you let it.”

Byakuya turned red with anger, but moved away.

“I’ll get you for this,” he snarled.

The rest of the group, Chiaki included, watched the interaction with awe. It was one thing to hear that Munakata had been able to talk Byakuya down, but another to actually see it.

-

After the chaotic late morning meeting, everyone broke up temporarily to do chores. Then they met all together, and made their way over to the airport.

The place wasn’t  _ completely  _ destroyed, but that wasn’t saying very much. All the planes had evidently had their engines ripped out of them, and two of them were smashed together. Debris littered the runway. Inside was even worse; glass was shattered everywhere and the whole place reeked of smoke. Monokuma had meant business when he wanted to keep them on the island. If anyone still had any doubts about his power after Monomi’s execution, those were gone now.

“Christ…” Mondo whispered in shock. “How did he even  _ do _ that?”

“Probably with the same tech he uses for the monobeasts,” Ryota said. “Did you see those things? They’re standing guard over all the bridges!”

“For now, we cannot pay those monsters any heed,” Sakura said. “We must focus our efforts on what we are capable of. Namely, cleaning up this area.”

“Way ahead of you,” Mondo grinned.

The clean-up efforts were pretty uneventful. The stronger members of the group such as Sakura and Mondo helped move the heavier sheets of metal, while Mukuro, Aoi and Leon maneuvered around picking up shards of broken glass. Byakuya stood around barking orders—apparently Munakata had decided to give him that role to soothe him, much to Taka’s envy—while the others, such as Chiaki and Ryoko, tried to check if the sprinklers were in need of repair. Everyone found over a dozen Monokuma plushies all together, which Ruruka fawned over while she passed out drinks. By the end of the afternoon, everyone had been worn out ragged, and trudged back to the hotel for a much needed dinner.

-

Later that evening, after the sun had set, Kizakura decided to go on another walk. As he approached the beach, he noticed two voices yelling back and forth. 

“Do you have any understanding of the situation we are in?! Monokuma could kill any one of us for violating the rules! And yet here you are, casually littering!” That was Taka, judging by the passion in his voice.

“Oh for fuck’s sake...it’s an  _ orange peel,” _ Another voice said. It was probably—no definitely—Mondo. No one else talked like that. “It’s fuckin’ biodegradable! Who cares?”

“I care! Despite your foul mouth and uncouth behavior, I want you to survive!”

“Uncouth—the fuck did you say?!”

“Break it up, you two,” Kizakura said, stepping in between them.

“Fuck off, old man!” Mondo snarled, cracking his knuckles. “The fuck you gonna do to stop me, huh?”

A sword flew towards his head, and Mondo barely jumped back in time. He touched his cheek and noticed tiny droplets of blood from a cut he didn’t realize he got.

“That is enough, Mondo,” Munakata scolded. “I will not allow you to threaten your teachers. This is your only warning.”

“...fine,” He grumbled, shooting a glare at Taka. “I don’t fuckin’ care about your stupid rules anyway.”

“The disrespect he has for authority figures...it’s unbelievable!” Kiyotaka said as Mondo stomped off. He turned to Munakata and bowed. “Thank you, Mr.Munakata sir! As expected of the former ultimate student council president!”

“There’s no need to be so formal,” Munakata sighed.

“Yes sir Mr.Munakata sir!”

“Hey, what about me?” Kizakura griped. “I helped, too...”

“Oh yeah...” Taka said, not even bothering to make eye contact. “Thanks to you too, I guess...Mr.Kimura.”

“And you didn’t even remember my name?!”

-

“Hey, thanks for taking care of Taka for me,” Kizakura said after he’d left to go to bed. “Honestly, I don’t get why the kid dislikes me so much...”

“Maybe because you’re a lazy alcoholic who doesn’t seem to be taking this situation seriously?”

“Oh, come on! Not you too!”

Munakata shook his head. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I’m just...exhausted. Dealing with these kids is way harder than I thought it would be.”

“You can say that again,” He replied. “But hey, at least there’s two of us, right? Better than having to deal with them all by yourself. Plus I’d like to believe we both have our niches.”

“That’s true,” He nodded. “I have to hand it to you, I don’t think I could get through to Toko like you have. Poor girl.”

“Poor girl indeed... I’m trying to get her to knock off that whole ‘master’ thing, but it seems like it’s because of some stuff in her childhood. I’ll keep an eye on her if you take care of Byakuya, alright?”

Before Munakata could respond, the monitor nearest to them flickered on.

“Ahem! Ahem! Hope’s Peak Academy’s School Trip Executive Committee has an announcement to make! We have a special surprise waiting for you all at Jabberwock Park! Please gather there at your earliest convenience! Or rather...at  _ my _ earliest convenience...which is right now, buckaroos! Puhuhuhuhu!”

“I wonder what that might be,” Kizakura said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Monokuma’s announcement is? Puhuhuhu! Anyway, hopefully next chapter will be more eventful.


	5. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand daily life 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma releases his very first motive. Will people take the bait?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I’m going to have a weekly schedule!  
> Also me: *releases a chapter literally a day after the previous one*  
> It seems like these chapters are getting progressively shorter. Sorry folks! At least I’ve gotten some interactions in. This one is Mukuro-centric. I hope you enjoy it!

The group gathered together in Jabberwock Park, looking exhausted. Several people were already in their pajamas, and had clearly been sleeping when Monokuma gave them a rude awakening. Mukuro stood next to a cranky Ryoko—the first time she’d ever seen her spotting anything but a cheerful smile—and crossed her arms.

“This had better be good,” Ryota grumbled. “I was in the middle of storyboarding!”

“Unfortunately, it seems we do not have any other choice,” Celeste said. She was among the people who had to be woken up—she spotted a black nightgown, and her hair extensions were sloppily clipped on. Kizakura had been adamant about waking her up instead of Munakata, for reasons he didn’t really understand.

In the area where the statue used to be, there was a crudely set up stage, with cheap-looking paper lanterns hung up on it. Whoever set it up hadn’t even bothered to light them. Mukuro hadn’t ever been to a concert venue, but she assumed that the stage was insufficient since Leon and Sayaka kept complaining about it.

Out of nowhere, Monomi appeared on the stage.

“What the—Monomi?! I thought you were dead!” Leon shouted.

“Yeah, man! We totally saw you get obliterated! What gives?” Hiro added. “Don’t tell me...you’re actually an alien?! Nooooooo!”

“I’m not an alien!” Monomi wailed.

“Usami came back from the dead! Hooray!” Ruruka shouted.

“So you survived your so-called ‘execution’ after all…” Munakata said, placing a hand on his sword. “I want an explanation. Now. Are you working with the mastermind?”

Before she could answer, Monokuma appeared out of nowhere and punched her in the back of the head. She fell over and started crying.

“Thank you for waiting, everyone!” He shouted. “Now I’m gonna perform an outstanding comedy routine!...or I _would_ have, if _somebody_ didn’t forget to show up in costume!”

“Waaah! I don’t wanna wear a dress like that!” Monomi whimpered.

“Well, whatever! I guess I’ll just cut to the chase, then!” He continued. “You guys...are missing all your memories! Your precious school life has been tragically stolen from you! Isn’t that sooooo depressing?”

“You...you erased our memories?!” Hina cried.

“Waaah! So that means I’m not the same age as Mr.Munakata after all! He’s older than me!”

“Hiro, that means you aged too...but wait, how on earth could you even do that?! There’s no way that’s even possible!”

“Au contraire, my wannabe samurai! Just ask my adorable little sister!”

Everyone turned to Monomi. She seemed to crumble under their intense gaze.

“Well?” Byakuya demanded. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“W-well...umm...I think we should...focus on togetherness! A-after all, th-this is our wonderful school trip! We should make as many happy memories as possible!”

“She’s not even denying it!” Taka shouted. “Unbelievable...to present yourself as an ally, and then betray us like this...how dare you!”

“This is bullshit,” Mondo said. “No way could a stupid bunny erase our memories!”

“I hate to agree with Mr.Owada, but he’s right,” Hifumi added. “I don’t think we could remove years of memories just like that...wouldn’t it cause brain damage?”

“N-no way…” Ryoko whimpered. “I-I already have memory problems, and now this...it’s awful…!”

“What if he has a point, though?” Ryota asked. “Does anyone...actually remember coming to this island?”

A few seconds passed as his words sank in. Mukuro searched her brain, trying to figure it out. She was walking up to a boat, and…

Nothing. When had she gotten to the docks? Where had she been before then? All she could find was a blank space. She started to panic. Where was her sister?!

“I know I scouted you guys, but...damn it…” Kizakura mumbled. “I can’t...remember the actual conversations we had…”

“Waaah! Does that mean Ruruka is a college student? Why is Ruruka on a trip with a bunch of high schoolers, then?!”

“Puhuhuhu! Who knows? Well, I do, but my lips are sealed!”

“What have you done to us?” Chiaki demanded. “Setting us back to level one...what was our save data like? Who were we?! I don’t understand!”

_Why does she always speak in game metaphors?_

“She must be stressed,” Ryoko said, reading Mukuro’s mind. “She doesn’t talk like that otherwise.”

“Well, I’ve noticed a shocking lack of murders! So I decided that in order to stir up some chaos, I’d reveal the horrible truth to you all! And as a special present...I’ll give you all one memory while you guys sleep! Sweet dreams, everyone!”

He disappeared without a trace. Everyone stood there for a few minutes, but eventually dispersed. Mukuro trudged back to her cottage, feeling sick to her stomach.

-

_“Hey big sis! It’s been sooooo long!” Junko shouted, pulling Mukuro into a tight hug._

_“Ack—Junko?”_

_“D’aww, didn’t recognize me? Oh well! I guess I did have some development in the chest department…” She trailed off, briefly staring at Mukuro’s chest. “Well, that makes one of us, at least!”_

_She flashed Mukuro a toothy grin, and it lit up her world._

-

Mukuro woke up in a cold sweat. That dream...what did it mean? It was so real…

_Don’t tell me...that was the memory Monokuma gave me?_

The sun was filtering through the blinds, stripes of sunlight painting the room. Mukuro checked the clock: six a.m. Later than she usually got up, but she was on vacation, so this time she could let it slide. She sat up and stretched. On the other bed, Ryoko was still fast asleep, clutching a notebook like it was a beloved stuffed animal. The sight filled her with nostalgia, though she didn’t know why.

She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Ryoko. After yesterday morning, she kept her guard up so that she wouldn’t scream if Monokuma jumped out of nowhere. Fortunately, it seemed he had enough harassment for now, and she was able to get dressed and go out for a run with no problem.

As she ran across the sand, she found Sakura practicing her katas. Their eyes met, and she gave Mukuro a curt nod.

“I see you also value your training,” Sakura remarked. “Though it seems you came out later than I. Care to spar with me?”

Mukuro looked down at the sand. It wouldn’t make for great footing, especially if they fought close to the water, but it could do.

“Sure,” she replied, and kicked off her shoes.

“So did you have a particularly vivid dream last night?” Sakura asked as she got into position.

“That’s right,” she responded. “You too?”

“Precisely,” she replied. “It seems Monokuma has followed through on his promise.”

Sakura threw the first punch, and Mukuro squatted to avoid it. She kicked at her legs, but Sakura was faster than she looked, and jumped back. She swung down her fists and Mukuro caught them with one arm.

“So what was it—oof—you dreamt of?” Sakura asked as Mukuro landed a punch on her abdomen.

“Reuniting with my—sister,” She grunted as Sakura kicked her legs out from under her. She rolled back and got onto her feet again. “And you?”

“Battling with Kenshiro,” she responded. Mukuro swung at her and she grabbed her fist in her hand.

“Who?!” Mukuro gasped as Sakura threw her back. She barreled over and landed a few feet away.

Sakura walked over and extended her hand.

“My boyfriend,” she stated as she lifted Mukuro up to her feet. “The one person I’ve never been able to defeat. Thank you for sparring with me. It was quite enjoyable.”

“Same to you,” Mukuro remarked, smiling back.

-

Mukuro made it back just in time for Monokuma’s 7am announcement. Ryoko stretched and yawned, then greeted her as cheerfully as always.

“Good morning! Did you go out for a run? Did you and Sakura fight?”

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. “How did you know that?”

“Well, you looked kinda sweaty...plus your gait is a little unsteady! And I think Sakura is the only person who could challenge you, really. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, Ryoko.” She turned to the shower.

“Hey, Mukuro, let’s take a bath together!”

“Huh?!”

-

After an eventful bath with Ryoko—who somehow manifested a waterproof pencil and notebook out of thin air—the two made their way to the restaurant. Everyone else had arrived, and Mukuro felt embarrassed for coming in so late.

“Odd to see you so late, Mukuro,” Munakata remarked.

“I’m disappointed!” Taka shouted. “Shame on you!”

“Leave Mukuro alone!” Ryoko shot back.

“It looks like everyone has arrived…except Hina, but she said she wouldn’t be joining us. Let’s start the morning meeting,” Munakata announced. “First off, I know this sounds rather odd...but did anyone have any particularly vivid dreams last night? I suspect this may have to do with Monokuma’s announcement.”

Ryota was the first to speak up.

“I was talking with someone I didn’t recognize...I don’t remember what we were talking about, though.”

“Same here, except with headmaster Jin,” Kizakura said.

“I was lecturing that fool Mondo for running in the hallways! It’s perfectly in character for that deviant!”

“Fuck you, asshole! You were being real annoying! I can’t believe I had the same memory as that dumbass...”

“I was hanging out with my booooyfriend!” Ryoko shouted. “I’m so happy I got a memory of my beloved Yasuke back! When I spend time with him, I don’t even need to write it down!”

“Same with Ruruka! Ruruka was feeding Yoi sweets!”

Mukuro’s eye twitched. Yasuke? Why did that name seem so familiar?

Before anyone could continue, Hina swung open the door and came running in.

“Guys!” She shouted. “There’s something weird at Jabberwock Park!”

-

The meeting was cut short and everyone dashed over to see what Hina had found. Apparently, she had been having some stomach pains, and trudged over to the rocketpunch market to get some anti acids. As she was returning, she’d noticed that the Jabberwock park statue looked odd, and came running to warn everyone. Where the statue once stood, there was now a huge round object resembling Monokuma, with a timer on the front.

“That wasn’t here before,” Celeste remarked. “Monokuma definitely installed it.”

“I suspect it was placed here during the night when we were all asleep,” Kizakura stated. “Given what we know that stupid bear is capable of, doing it without making any noise isn’t surprising in the least.”

“Is that...is that a bomb?!” Sayaka asked.

“Christ, that thing is huge...think it’s a nuclear one?” Mondo wondered.

“Don’t even joke about that!” Taka yelled. “We...we’d all be killed! There’s no way Mr.Munakata would allow that to happen!”

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about something like this,” Munakata said. “That damned Monokuma...”

“Monokuma, show yourself!” Sakura exclaimed. “Explain this right now!”

On cue, Monokuma popped out of nowhere. Mukuro flinched.

“My lovely students call upon me again! Monokuma appears!”

“If you’re so enthusiastic about showing up, why don’t you answer our question?” Byakuya asked, pushing up his glasses.

“What question?” Monokuma said innocently.

“Don't be obtuse! You know what I’m talking about! What is this bomb doing here?”

“Hmmm...nope! Not gonna answer that one! No one likes spoilers!” And with that, he disappeared again.

Munakata rubbed his temples. “Damn it...as if one motive wasn’t enough. What the hell is he up to now?”

“C-can w-we defuse it?”

“No way am I touching that thing!” Hiro shouted.

“For once, we are in agreement,” Byakuya said. “Perhaps there is a semblance of a brain rolling around in your head after all.”

“Oh come on! What’d I ever do to you?!”

“Jesus Christ..is being an asshole in your genes or something?” Mondo said.

Byakuya simply folded his arms and scoffed at him.

“Well, whatever,” Kizakura said. “Nothing we can do. Let’s hurry up and get chores done with.”

Everyone else groaned.

-  
Sakura groaned as she watched Celeste and Ruruka argue. Again. While Byakuya at least had the courtesy to keep his mouth shut, those two seemed determined to fight about anything and everything. She and Mr.Munakata were being run ragged dealing with them. This time, the two of them were face to face with each other, standing over a watering can. Doing the watering of the vegetables was the least dirty task at Usami Corral, so naturally it was the basis of almost every fight so far. It was just reaching the stage where the two were starting to exchange personal insults.

“Please. I know a liar when I see one. I am the queen of them, after all.”

“Who died and made _you_ queen?! Ruruka smells rotten oranges!”

“And there you go with that fake cutesy act,” Celeste replied, twirling a lock of hair. “Speaking in third person…”

“Celeste is no different!” Ruruka shouted, pointing at her. “Ruruka _knows_ that’s not your real name! You have no right to criticize Ruruka!”

Celeste’s face twisted into one of pure rage. “At least I _own_ my lies, you good-for-nothing _bitch!”_

“You wanna fight? Huh? Ruruka’s not as strong as Yoi, but she can totally smoke you!”

“Bring it on!”

It was at this point Sakura intervened.

“You two are behaving like children!” She scolded. “Focus on your work!”

They both glared at her, but neither made a move to argue.

“This isn’t over,” Celeste spat as Ruruka turned away.

-

Meanwhile at the airport, Kizakura’s group was hard at work. After the gathering the day before, most of the debris had been removed, although Mukuro suspected that it would take a few more days and at least one more mass gathering to get rid of it all. As she finished putting up a sheet of plastic that would cover one of the shattered windows, she turned to find Chiaki staring at the ground, broom and dustpan in hand.

“Chiaki,” She asked as she walked over, “Are you doing okay?”

“Oh!” She jolted. “Hey hey...yeah... I guess.”

“You sure? You look really out of it.” Her voice was low, so as not to attract Ryoko’s attention—Mukuro had a feeling Chiaki would clam up if she got involved.

“Yeah…” She murmured. “It’s just...my memory…”

“Yeah?”

Chiaki looked up again. “It was...kinda like Ryota’s,” She started. “There was...this boy...with weird spiky hair. I was sitting somewhere, and he was smiling at me, and...and…” Her eyes filled up with tears. “I just...I really liked him, and...god, what happened to us? What are we missing?! I can’t take it…!”

Mukuro wasn’t really sure what to do at this point. Her social skills were...pretty bad. So she just put a hand on her shoulder.

“I think...I think he chose those memories on purpose. To upset us,” She said. “They seemed pretty real...at least to me.”

“I think so too...but why would I get a memory of a stranger?”

Mukuro just shrugged.

“Who knows,” She remarked. “For the record, I got a memory of...my sister.”

Chiaki smiled at her. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah...I hope she’s doing okay.”

From the shadows, Kizakura watched the two of them chat with each other and smiled. He took a swig from his flask. He hadn’t been sure what to expect from Mukuro, given her talent and the fact that she wasn’t scouted by him, but it seemed like she was a sweet girl. Maybe they needed someone like her. With her strength, they could probably get through anything.

Probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Famous last words, Koichi. No, there won’t be a murder for while, but yes, it will eventually happen. Anyway! I figured I should throw in a fun fact: Ryota and Hifumi call each other buddy and pal, but if it were in Japanese they’d call each other “aibou”.


	6. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand daily life 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The afternoon after people get their memories, tensions between both Celeste and Ruruka and Mondo and Taka flare up. Poor Chiaki and Mukuro get stuck in the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I’m going to take a break you guys, honest. I don’t really know why I’m pumping out chapters so fast but I’m gonna chill out, I promise.

Lunch had come, and the mood was poor. Everyone seemed troubled by the appearance of the mysterious bomb and the memories they had just received.

“You’ve  _ got _ to be kidding me,” Leon scoffed.  _ That’s  _ your so-called memory? Just say you don’t wanna tell us and stop lying, man.”

“I’m telling you, it was the real deal!” Hiro shouted. “My burger was abducted by aliens! Well, half of it anyway. It was totally unfair! The restaurant said it was 100% beef!”

“That’s so stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!”

“Mr.Munakata, help meeeee!” Hiro wailed.

Munakata ignored him. “I still find Monomi incredibly suspicious,” He said to Kizakura. “I know she’s supposedly the island’s owner, but then why would Monokuma be able to defeat her so easily?”

“That’s the million dollar question,” Kizakura replied, taking a swig from his flask.

“Hey! Alcohol is not permitted in a school environment!” Taka shouted.

“Lay it off, will you? We’re on vacation.”

“No! You are being unprofessional! You’re supposed to guide us, and yet here you are getting inebriated! Shame on you!”

Kizakura rubbed his temples. Deciding to ignore him, he continued. “Still, the general consensus is that she’s not to be trusted, right? I think we can all agree on that.”

“No, that’s wrong!” Ruruka shouted. She pulled out Usami’s magic stick, which was sloppily held together with some masking tape.

“Whoa, where’d you get that?” Leon asked.

“Ruruka found it on the ground after Monokuma first showed up! She’s been trying to fix it ever since…but it’s not working! It’s probably because you guys don’t believe in Usami!”

Byakuya folded his arms. He looked ready to say something, but Kyoko cut him off.

“I do think that for now, we should at least give her the benefit of the doubt,” She said. “After all, there’s no reason to believe that she has any say in Monokuma’s decisions. She could be totally out of the loop, or even being held hostage by him.”

“But then why would Monokuma even keep her around in bunny form?” Hiro asked. “If he could torture whoever the real Usami is, why wouldn’t he just do that?”

“Probably to make a point to us,” Sakura said. “The message two days ago was very clear: defy him and die. There’s no reason to think he won’t do it again.”

“Problem is, if he just does it to that rabbit, none of us will take it seriously,” Mondo mused. “So maybe he’s just being a dick.”

“How terrible!” Hifumi cried. “He’s trying to make ero-guro in real life! Yuck!”

“Those sort of hyper-violent scenes belong in shitty 80’s OVAs, not here…” Ryota whimpered.

“Until we have more evidence, I still suggest we keep our distance,” Byakuya said, finally getting a chance to speak. “Risk without reward is foolish, and right now there’s no reward to the risk of trusting her.”

“You guys are so mean,” Ruruka pouted. She refused to speak to the them for the rest of the meal.

-

Chiaki was helping take out another bag of trash to the dumpster when she caught sight of Hiro.

“Hey Chiaki, how’s it going?” He said as he waved.

“Good,” she lied. In reality she was still troubled by her dream. Who was that boy, and why did he stir such strong emotions in her? Why didn’t she recognize him? What did Monokuma gain from giving her that specific memory, instead of one featuring her loved ones? She made a note to talk to Ryota about it later, since he was in the same boat.

“Aww, there’s no need to be so down in the dumps!” He responded. He grabbed her trash bag and threw it into the dumpster. Was she really that easy to read? “Tell you what, I know what’ll lift your spirits! How about a good old-fashioned fortune telling? I’ll even give you a discount!”

“Thank you…wait, a discount?”

“Yep! Ninety percent!” He pulled out a crystal ball. “You’ll only have to pay thirty thousand dollars! I take credit, so you can pay me back later.”

_ There’s no way I could pay that, even if I sold everything I owned! _

Seeing her aghast face, he changed his tune. “Aww, I scared you, didn’t I?” He rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, I was just kidding…my mom always said to never make a girl cry. Tell you what, I’ll give you one for free! One time only, take it or leave it!”

“Uh, sure…”

He gave her a thumbs up, and then started waving his hand over his crystal ball.

“Hmmm…hrrrrrghh…aha! I’ve got it!” He grinned from ear to ear. “Lucky you! Seems like you’ve got a date coming up! Congratulations!”

“A…date? With who?”

“Sorry, didn’t get a chance to see it. But there’s a thirty percent chance I’m right! I guarantee it!”

_ Well, at least it wasn’t bad fortune...I guess? _

-

Leon was busy cutting up red peppers when Hifumi walked in.

“Sorry I’m late!” He said as he put on an apron.

“Bout time you showed up…” Leon grumbled. “Hey! Hina! What should he do?”

“Whaaaat? But don’t I have a say on this?!”

“No,” Hina replied as she walked up. “You forfeited it when you came in late! I’m putting you in charge of cleaning the pots and pans as we use them. That way they won’t pile up.”

“Noooooo!” Hifumi wailed as he placed his hands on his cheeks.

Leon just rolled his eyes and went back to work. He couldn’t complain; the rest of the group was pretty chill, plus he got to work with a super-hot pop star. Speaking of which, she was coming right his way.

“Almost done?” Sayaka asked, flashing that gorgeous smile.

“Hell yeah! I mean, uh, yeah.” He dumped the pieces into a metal bowl and handed it to her.

“Thanks!” She replied and giggled at him. As she turned away, he grinned stupidly.

“Hoho! It seems our baseball star has fallen in love! What will the outcome be, I wonder?”

“Man, shut up!”

-

Meanwhile at the rocketpunch market, Ryota and Toko were cowering behind Kyoko. 

“You are refusing to pull your weight!” Taka shouted. He waved a bottle of dish soap in front of Mondo’s face. “Leaving an entire box of supplies in the middle of the aisle is a trip hazard!”

“Pull the stick outta your ass!” Mondo yelled back. “I was gonna take care of it in a second!”

“This is bad…” Ryota whimpered. “Taka’s about to go super saiyan…!”

“W-w-what if they k-kill each other?” Toko stuttered. “I’m n-not g-good with b-blood…”

Kyoko just sighed. Sakura and Mr.Munakata had been dealing with something similar, but at least they had the strength to break up a fight. All Kyoko had was a pair of handcuffs. If the two exchanged blows—which was looking more and more likely by the minute—there was no telling what would happen.

By some miracle, Kizakura’s group arrived with him leading the way.

“Everyone, we’re here to get some tarp and—what the hell is happening here?!” He said.

“Mukuro! Help!” Ryota wailed. 

Taka and Mondo both turned to Mukuro, who was now walking up. “Unbelievable…” She tutted.

“Mukuro! It’s not what you think!” Taka defended.

“He started it!” Mondo shouted, pointing at Taka. “You’re the only one besides Munakata who he listens to! Tell him to quit being such a hardass!”

“I don’t care who started it!” Mukuro shouted. “God, you two are so annoying!”

“A-annoying?” Taka stuttered.

“That’s right! I could hear you guys shouting from a mile away, and this isn’t the first time either!”

“Yeah!” Ryoko backed up. “We’re supposed to be friends here! Stop fighting!”

“Tell ‘em, you two!” Ryota cheered. That earned him a glare from Taka and Mondo, and he shriveled back.

“I don’t like saying this, but I think we might have to switch some places,” Kizakura suggested. “I can’t really let Ryoko go, and Mukuro is staying with her...so that just leaves Hiro or Chiaki.”

“I vote for exchanging Hiro for Mondo!” Ryoko said. “He’s super strong and could help us lift stuff! We’d get the airport done in no time!”

“I’d be down,” Mondo said. “Give me something better to do, anyway.”

“Chiaki, what do you think?” Taka asked. “You could be a useful addition to our team!”

She felt like she was being viewed under the lens of a microscope.

“Um…I’d rather not,” she replied. Taka was too energetic for her. “But if Hiro doesn’t wanna do it, then sure.”

Hiro pulled out a crystal ball and started muttering to himself. Everyone stared. After a minute, he put it away and grinned.

“Don’t worry about it, Chiaki! I looked into the future and I’ll be fine! There’s no way I could make a cute girl like you feel bad, anyway.”

Chiaki breathed a sigh of relief.

“So we’re done here?” Kyoko asked.

“Yep!” Ryoko said. “C'mon, Mondo! Let’s gooooo!”

Mondo rolled his eyes and followed the rest of them out.

-

The afternoon chores were finally over. Chiaki looked forward to hanging in the lobby for a bit before dinner was served. Apparently it was going to be pizza, and Sayaka had gone around asking everyone’s favorite toppings. Hers was sausage, so there was a good chance that it was on the menu. Her stomach grumbled at the thought.

As she made her way over to the arcade machine, she noticed Ryota on a couch sketching someone. 

_ Thank goodness! He’s exactly who I wanted to see! _

“Hey hey!”

“Oh!” He jolted a little bit. “Jeez, don’t scare me like that…how are you, Chiaki?”

“I’m good,” She replied. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Me?” He asked, pointing at himself. “But why?”

She sat down across from him.

“Um, so, your memory…you said it was of someone you didn’t know, right?”

“Yeah…” He replied. “They were fat, and they had dark hair and eyes…I don’t know why, but when I saw them I felt…really, really happy. I don’t really get it.”

“Same here!” She said and grabbed his hands. “I had exactly the same kind of dream!”

“Huh?!” He seemed shocked at the sudden touch. “I—you saw them too?!”

“Uh, well...it wasn’t the same person, but…” She trailed off, “But, I experienced the same sort of thing. There was someone I didn’t know...but I know I cared about him a whole lot.”

Ryota’s face softened. “It’s weird...right?”

“Yeah, exactly. What does it even mean? Are we supposed to kill over it?”

Before he could reply, Chiaki overheard shouting outside. She dropped Ryota’s hands and ran out to see the source of the noise. Celeste and Ruruka were having a shouting match on the front steps.

“Chiaki!” Celeste said, turning to her. “Exactly who I wanted to see. Tell me, do you prefer your toast with butter or jam?”

_ They’re fighting about  _ **_toast?!_ **

“Well, um—”

“Hey! Don’t put lil’ Aki under pressure like that! It’s okay, sweetie! Ruruka appreciates your opinion, even if it’s the wrong one!”

“I…I…”

“Answer the question!” They both demanded.

_ “I don’t knooooow!” _

Ruruka and Celeste both stared at her. She was trembling from her outburst.

_ Oh no, they think I’m an idiot...why did this have to happen to me? _

“...Lil’ Aki?”

“Stop it!” Chiaki snapped, on the verge of tears. “Just—stop it! Why do you guys have to fight all the time? I can’t stand it!”

“Neither can we,” Celeste admitted. “But it seems there is no resolution in sight, as far as I can see. Do you have any suggestions?”

Once again, she was being put on the spot. Oh, she hated this.

“Um….maybe you two could have a tournament or something?” She feebly suggested.

“An excellent idea,” Celeste replied. “A duel to the death.”

“Pffft! As if Ruruka would get killed by some weird fake goth-loli! With the power of deliciousness, Ruruka will beat you senseless!”

“Fool. I will annihilate you,” Celeste replied.

“W-wait, that wasn’t what I meant! I was thinking, like...rock-paper-scissors of something!”

“But where is the elegance in that?” Celeste said. “Sadly, we lack swords, so fisticuffs will have to do.”

“Consider it done! Ruruka’s gonna win this!”

“Guys…” Chiaki pleaded. The situation was spiraling out of her control. “Don’t…”

“Do not be so glum,” Celeste motioned towards her. “Your suggestion is a good one. As a matter of fact, why don’t you serve as a referee?”

“But...but…” Chiaki was at a loss for words. “But Sakura…”

“She’s the reason we haven’t gotten to do this earlier!” Ruruka shouted. “And Mooky’s way too scary! It’s gotta be you, lil’ Aki!”

“It will be tomorrow at noon, then,” Celeste said with finality. The two shook on it and walked away.

Chiaki moaned. What the hell had she gotten into?

-

Chiaki had lost all enthusiasm for dinner, even after seeing the sausage pizza. It pissed her off. How dare those two ruin her meal!

Ryoko and Mukuro approached her, as had started to become routine.

“Hello again,” Mukuro said as she gently placed her tray down. “Are you feeling okay? I know you were really excited about dinner, but you look really glum…”

Chiaki stared down at her half-eaten food. “I guess I  _ am  _ kinda down…”

“Oh no! Celeste and Ruruka put you on the spot, didn’t they? They’ve been doing it to everyone!”

“I’ve had enough conflict resolution for one lifetime…” Mukuro admitted. “But if you need my help, I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks, guys…” She replied. “But I feel like it’s too late. They said they were gonna have a ‘duel’ or something...and they made me into the referee. It’s supposed to be at noon…”

“For real?!” Ryoko gasped. “No way!”

“That seems like a bad idea,” Mukuro said. “Did they really ask you to be the referee?”

“They did,” She groaned, burying her head in her hands. “I’m so stupid…”

“Whoa, whoa! Am I hearin’ this right?!” Mondo said as he dashed to their table. “There’s gonna be a catfight between Celeste and Ruruka? That’s awesome!”

“I know, right?!” Ryoko said. “I’m gonna analyze their fighting techniques!”

“Guys, don’t go spreading it around…” Mukuro replied. “I kinda agree that it might help blow off some steam, but Sakura and Munakata won’t let it happen. Keep quiet about this.”

Mondo gave them a thumbs up. “Trust me, I won’t let word about this get to them. This is gonna be awesome! I’m telling the guys!” He scampered off.

This was gonna suck.

-

Dinner was just winding down when the monitors flickered on again. The whole place collectively groaned.

“Ahem! Ahem! Everyone, please gather in Jabberwock Park! Attendance is mandatory!”

“Again?!” Sayaka cried. “But this is the third day in a row!”

“Stupid bear...we didn’t even get a chance to do the dishes yet!” Leon complained.

“Th-then st-stay back and d-do them y-yourself,” Toko stammered. “N-nobody likes y-you, anyway…”

“Toko, please,” Kizakura reprimanded. He moved to place a hand on her shoulder and she flinched.

“What is it this time?” Byakuya complained. “Another motive?”

“God, I hope not,” Ryota said. “It’s only been a day since the last one...why does he keep torturing us?”

“Despair, obviously,” Celeste remarked. “Though to be honest, it’s more irritating than anything else.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Taka sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Cat fight incoming! Also, Monokuma’s back on his bullshit again.


	7. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand daily life 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma gives yet another motive, this one seemingly designed for Chiaki specifically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter, it’s really short and half of it is one scene. I wanted to post this and the next chapter as one, but it was getting so long I split it up.

Everyone shuffled over, exhausted. It was getting annoying to listen to Monokuma’s idiotic ramblings, but they had no other choice. When they arrived, he was standing on a tall object covered by a tarp.

“Thank you for gathering here today. First of all, I owe you guys an apology!”

“An…apology?” Hiro asked.

“Seems out of character, coming from you,” Taka remarked.

“Believe or not, even the epitome of perfection has faults! And as a sign of my humility, I’ve decided…I’m giving you a new motive! Aren’t you happy?”

“Of course not!” Sayaka said. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“Because…” He dramatically trailed off, “I restored the wrong memories! You were  _ supposed _ to get a memory of the person you cared about the most, but half of you didn’t even know about them before your memory was wiped!”

_ That would explain the boy in my dream,  _ Chiaki thought.

“Sooo…without further ado, here is your new motive!” He pulled the tarp away to reveal…an arcade machine?

Chiaki was filled with worry. Games were her specialty, and she had no doubt Monokuma knew that.

Leaping down from atop it, he continued. “Tada! The ultra-special Monokuma game machine! There’s a game for every one of you—twenty in all! Once you beat it, you’ll each get an extra special file! And don’t you worry, there’s no mysteries here! Well…maybe one or two, but not on the level of last time! Puhuhuhu!”

“Twenty? But there are only nineteen of us,” Kizakura said.

“How does this thing even work?” Byakuya asked, folding his arms. 

“I’m glad you asked!” Monokuma replied. “Allow me to explain! Everyone will put in their name, and a custom game made just for you will pop up! All you have to do is beat it, and you’ll get the special file! But don’t try to put in someone else’s name, or else you’ll get skewered! Got it? Good!”

With that, he disappeared.

“This is stupid,” Leon complained. “We shouldn’t play that thing, it’s obviously a trap!”

“I disagree,” Kizakura said, touching his hat. “We don’t know what’s in those files. If we play it all together now, then we can discuss it together and avoid getting all riled up.”

“I agree,” Sakura chimed in. “There’s a strong likelihood that this game was designed to encourage secrecy. Playing it now is the best way to prevent it.”

“I _suppose_ I could tolerate this idiotic motive, just this once,” Byakuya said, stepping up first. “Watch and learn. I will show you the true power of the Togami family!”

After losing no less than five times, he finally beat the stupid game. Out of a slot underneath the screen came a Manila folder. He picked it up and opened it, and his eyes went wide.

“Well?” Asked Sayaka. “What is it?”

Byakuya remained uncharacteristically quiet. After a moment, he said, “My butler.”

“Yes?”

“They…these photos…they’ve…it looks like they’ve captured him,” he replied soberly.

“So now they’re resorting to kidnapping our loved ones, huh…” Hiro mused as he stroked his chin.

Chiaki couldn’t imagine who Monokuma could’ve captured. She had a crappy relationship with her parents, and she never had any friends growing up. What could he do?

As she continued to ponder the question, others stepped up to play the game. After beating each one, they all received a file with pictures of people they cared about. Mukuro got her sister, Ryoko, Ruruka and Sakura all got their boyfriends, Celeste and Toko got their pets (although Toko refused to say what kind hers was), Kyoko got a childhood friend of hers, Hiro and Taka got their mother and father respectively, Leon got his cousin (which made him especially uncomfortable), Hifumi and Aoi got their younger siblings, Kyosuke got two former schoolmates of his, and Sayaka got her bandmates, which prompted a total meltdown. Only Kizakura, Ryota, Chiaki and Mondo remained.

“You guys are all suckers!” Mondo shouted as he cracked his knuckles. “Takin’ forever…lemme show you how a crazy diamond does it!”

He beat the game in thirty seconds. Out popped another file. It featured a fellow gang member of his, but Chiaki was honestly too impressed by his skills to care.

“Wow, that’s…amazing, Mondo,” She said to him as he strolled over.

“Hell yeah!” He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. “I’m prolly no match for you, but…maybe we can do a one-on-one sometime! How’s that sound?”

“I’d like that.”

“Okay, who’s next?” Kyosuke asked. “Koichi, you said you used to play pinball machines, right? This should be easy for you.”

“Hello hot seat, my old friend,” He groaned. Chiaki managed to get a peak of what he was playing, and it was indeed a simple electronic pinball game. Others got the same idea and started gathering in to watch. Chiaki watched as he effortlessly racked up points. After a few minutes he hit the absurdly high score without dropping the ball even once. He pulled the file out and glanced at it as casually as he could.

“Who is it? Ruruka wants to see!”

“Jin Kirigiri,” He replied, with an air of fake casualness.

“Jin Kirigiri?” Ruruka asked. “As in the headmaster?”

“Jim Kirigiri...wait, that’s the same last name as Kyoko’s! Are you two related?!”

Kyoko paused.

“...Yes. We are.”

“What on earth?! You’re saying that Mr. Kizakura had a personal relationship with him?!” Taka shouted. “This is unacceptable! The whole process is ruined by bias! How could any respectable institution allow this?!”

“Calm down,” Munakata said. “The details of this can be discussed later. Right now we need to focus on getting this all over with.”

Taka gnashed his teeth. “Fine,” He hissed. “But there had  _ better  _ be a good explanation for this.”

That left her and Ryota. They exchanged glances and he stepped up first.

Hifumi squealed with delight as the screen lit up with an image of Princess Piggles. It was similar to the game he’d gotten, only this one was lineart with some areas lightly shaded in with...yellow and green? It looked weird.

“A color trace,” Ryota explained. “You mark different areas with different colored pencils and then a computer can select those areas and make it easier to fill them in. It’s easier than doing it manually.”

Chiaki didn’t quite get it, but he was already in his element coloring in areas. It was clear that he’d done this a million times. After about five minutes the picture was done, and his file popped out.

Ryota took it out and opened it. His head turned away, so she couldn’t see his expression. His grip tightened on the folder until it started to wrinkle.

“Buddy?” Hifumi asked. “Are you okay?”

“Well, who is it?” Asked Hina.

“...the former headmaster Tengan...” Ryota murmured.

“Kazuo Tengan?! You’re telling me that you personally know  _ Kazuo Tengan?!” _ Taka shrieked. “I knew it! Hope’s peak academy is nothing more than a sham! First Kyoko and Kizakura both know Jin Kirigiri, and now this?! It’s pure nepotism!”

“Calm down,” Kizakura reassured him. “Tengan personally scouted him. It’s not what you think.”

“Shut up! You’re in on this too, aren’t you!”

“Enough!” Munakata commanded. “I have faith in hope’s peak academy. You are behaving rashly. I expect better from you.”

“But Mr. Munakata...” Taka whined. Munakata glared at him and he shut up.

“Looks like there’s only one person left,” Hiro said as he glanced at Chiaki.

Everyone turned to stare at her. She was the ultimate gamer, and the last to go. She broke into a sweat.

This was the moment of truth.

She stepped up to the machine, and entered her name.

The screen turned black. Then white dots started appearing on it, and she smiled. This was the opening title of gala omega, her favorite game...or so she initially thought. Instead the title was Monomega, and the spaceship was replaced by a pixelated Monokuma head. She had a bad feeling about this.

The game started fairly normally. She blasted spaceships easily and started racking up the kills. But as she played she noticed the stars were starting to line up into a pattern...almost like tiles. 

**You are mine…**

The spaceships weren’t so much flying as they were...crawling? Running? She couldn’t quite tell. 

**You are mine…**

They started to avoid her. She was on autopilot. She had to actively seek them out. She had to get rid of them.

**You are** **_mine…_ **

The field wasn’t outer space anymore, it was inside a building. The spaceships weren’t spaceships anymore, they were figures. 

**You are** **_MINE..._ **

She had to get them. She had to get them all. Why were they running away? She had to kill them. She had to kill them. She had to—

**And I am yours.**

The screen abruptly went black. A dull thud alerted her to the fact that a folder had been dispensed.

_ What the  _ **_hell_ ** _ was that? _

With trembling hands, she picked up the folder and opened it. Her eyes went wide.

There was nothing. It was completely empty.

-

It was around nine thirty when the group got back to the hotel. They’d been playing that game for over two hours. Chiaki’s head was swimming as she thought about what had transpired.

The others had gotten custom games, sure, but it wasn’t like they were distressed by them. And with the exception of Byakuya they’d all beaten them pretty easily. But hers? Hers was different. She’d played all sorts of horror games, but this was probably the most disturbing one she’d ever played. And she didn’t know why. It also troubled her that her folder was empty. It was like Monokuma was taunting her. The ultimate gamer with no loved ones. It made her sick.

As she walked back to her cottage she overheard Kyoko and Kizakura talking about something.

“Just leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to speak to anyone. Don’t check on me.”

“…Fine. But if you…”

Chiaki quickened her pace. She had enough on her mind already; she didn’t need to get involved in other people’s drama.

Well, more than she already had anyway.

-

Mukuro was returning to her cottage after getting a late night snack when she overheard two voices.

“I know, I just...I’m scared, okay?” Sayaka. That was Sayaka.

“Listen, I get you. It’s just for tonight, though. I’ll go grab my stuff, okay? Gimme a few.” Leon. What were they talking about?

“Okay! Listen, I don’t think there’s a rule for swapping handbooks yet. So that’s probably the best way we can get into each other’s rooms.”

_ They’re swapping rooms? Why? _

“Yeah, I know, I know...like I said, I gotta grab my clothes, alright? Be back in five.”

“Thanks, Leon!”

Mukuro heard footsteps slowly fading away. She kept in the shadows for a moment, mulling over what she had just seen. They were going to exchange e-handbooks, then rooms. She watched as Sayaka pulled out a piece of paper and walked over to her and Ryoko’s cabin. She slipped it under the door.

_ Bad move. _

Mukuro stepped out of the shadows.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh!” Sayaka froze. “Hello, Mukuro…”

Mukuro’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That note.”

“Oh! It was just, um, for Ryoko…” Sayaka awkwardly trailed off, looking guilty.

“And why,” Mukuro said, folding her arms, “Couldn’t you knock on her door? Or wait until morning?”

“That’s not…”

“I know the eyes of a killer when I see one. Sayaka...don’t do it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied innocently.

“Yes you do. I overheard you talking to Leon about switching rooms...you’re planning on framing him for murder, aren’t you?”

Sayaka looked aghast. “Wh—I would never—”

“Anyone can end up killing under the right circumstances. It’s true in war...and it’s true here. And that’s exactly what Monokuma wants! For us to kill each other! Sayaka...don’t do it! Please!”

Her face twisted into a dark expression. “You...! How would you know what it’s like?! My bandmates are everything to me! If they’re in danger, I’ll...I’ll...! They’re all I have! You wouldn’t understand—”

“Of course I understand!”

Sayaka looked shocked at Mukuro’s outburst, as if she couldn’t imagine such a loud voice coming from such a small figure.

“I’m so lost...without my sister around, I don’t know what to do! I’ve always protected her, ever since we were little...what if she’s in danger?! I can’t stand this...I can’t stand it, but...”

She took a breath to calm her nerves and continued.

“But...even if those photos are true, and she is in danger...I can’t reach her now...not like this. I made a promise to her when we reunited, that I would use my skills to protect people. And there are people here who need protection, right now! Monokuma chose those photos to break all of us! You’re not special!”

Sayaka’s eyes filled up with tears. “I just…I can’t…”

She sank to her knees. Mukuro knelt by her side as she cried.

“Please,” She sobbed, “Please don’t tell him about this.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Leon walked up then, carrying a duffel bag.

“Hey, Sayaka, I—what happened?!”

Mukuro turned to face him.

“Sayaka,” She said, nudging her gently, “I think you two need to have a talk.”

She wouldn’t tell Leon, but he had a right to know. That’s why she would make Sayaka do it herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter will be better! The bitch battle will be happening. Poor Chiaki.


	8. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand daily life 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long-awaited fight finally happens, but it ends up being the least of everyone’s problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry this chapter is so short. I wish I could’ve come up with something better. I might go back and edit in more interactions and a better fight scene—I’m absolutely garbage at writing action.

Why don’t you remember me? It should be so easy. They  _ made _ it easy. It was like you were purposefully trying to fail.

No…that’s not right.

Don’t tell me…you’re trying to avoid the truth?

Not that you can actually tell me anything, even if you wanted to. That is the rule of this game, I suppose.

Still, always remember:

You are mine.

And I am yours.

-

The morning after everyone was given the second motive was cloudy. It was threatening to rain, or at least Chiaki hoped it would. Maybe then Celestia and Ruruka would call off their stupid duel and she could go back to playing games in her cottage. She’d tried to do so last night, but after taking a glance at the black screen of her gamegirl, she tasted bile. Hopefully she’d feel better soon.

She was doing a lot of hoping these past few days.

She trudged over to the morning meeting and sat at a table, not even bothering to get any food. She took a glance around to see most of the people in their regular spots, with one noticeable exception.

Sayaka was sitting by herself, looking upset. It didn’t surprise Chiaki given her reaction to the motive last night. What did surprise her was that Leon wasn’t by her side comforting her; instead he was at a table all the way on the other side of the dining hall, occasionally sneaking her nervous glances. Next to him was Mukuro, patting his shoulder. What had happened last night?

Before she had more time to contemplate, two figures walked in. Kizakura was dragging a protesting Hiro by the arm. 

“Sorry I’m late, everyone,” He announced. “This guy refused to wake up.”

“Leave me alone! I couldn’t sleep at all last night! And I was finally starting to relax when you started banging on my door…I barely had time to get dressed!”

It was then she noticed that he was missing his jacket. She was in the same boat as him; she’d been unable to fall asleep after that harrowing experience.

“Where’s Kyoko?” Munakata asked.

“She wasn’t feeling well,” Kizakura replied. “I’m not going into any more detail than that. I’ll check up on her around lunch, maybe bring her some food.”

At the mention of lunch, Chiaki saw Leon flinch. Seriously, what exactly was going on? Did he and Sayaka get into an argument? Mukuro got up and started walking over to Munakata about something. Ryoko, who had been happily munching some granola at the same table, followed her, leaving Leon all alone. Maybe she could talk to him later.

Her mind drifted to what Kizakura had just said.  _ “Just leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to get speak to anyone. Don’t check on me.” _

_ “…Fine. But if you…” _

Something was up for sure. Maybe she was going through a depressive episode or something? Chiaki could sympathize with that, especially after the motive. That didn’t really sit right with her, however. She had a lot of questions that weren’t going to get answered. It was frustrating.

Nothing much was said at the morning meeting. Munakata lectured the others on not falling prey to Monokuma’s plan, but she didn’t bother to pay attention. Her mind was far away, thinking of dim hallways and fleeing targets.

-

The airport was finally looking clean again. Chiaki suspected that they would be done with it by the end of the afternoon, and she could finally do something else. Right now, though, she was lost in thought. The very thought of that game made her tremble. She still didn’t understand what it meant.

Mondo walked up to her and slapped a hand on her shoulder.

“Yo, how’s it going?”

“Bad.” She was too tired to put up a front.

“Yeah, I get you. That motive was pretty fucked up. You still up for a competition later?”

“…Not really…” She mumbled. “After that game, I can’t…really look at my consoles again.”

“Damn, that bad, huh? Christ. What was with that game, anyway? You looked pretty freaked out.”

Chiaki weighed her options. Mondo was a bit crass and scary-looking, but he seemed pretty nice to her. Well, whatever. She didn’t have much to lose.

“It started out normal, but…it got weird. The spaceships turned into people, and instead of attacking me they were running away…I kept chasing them, and…it was like I couldn’t even stop.”

Mondo stared at her for a few seconds.

“Jesus Christ,” He muttered, “That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah…” She replied. “I think Monokuma was targeting me specifically. I didn’t have any loved ones, either…”

“Fuck, man…I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks…”

He took a minute to think and then spoke up again.

“Tell you what, I’ll keep you safe if you ever get stuck in danger. It’s a promise as a man!” He gave her a thumbs up.

“A promise as a man?”

“Hell yeah!” He grinned. “My big bro Daiya taught me it’s the one thing you can never, ever break! I’ll stick to it, one hundred percent!”

Chiaki blushed. It looked like she made the right decision. Mondo really was a good guy after all.

-

By the time lunch was over, the clouds had dissipated, much to Chiaki’s dismay. Celeste and Ruruka had agreed to battle on the beach, since Mukuro had mentioned sparring with Sakura there. She arrived dreading the whole situation. Pretty much everyone had shown up except for Kyoko, Kizakura, Munakata and Sakura. She figured that Sakura was off training, Kyoko was still in her cottage feeling sick, and Kizakura was off somewhere, probably getting drunk. She didn’t know why Munakata hadn’t shown up, though, especially since it was obvious something was going to happen. Either Mondo was a very convincing liar, or Munakata was getting so sick of their bickering that he would let this fight slide. Surprisingly, Taka was there, ostensibly to ensure that it was a fair fight.

“While I do not doubt your abilities as a referee, I think it is very important to have a backup! Especially for a battle as passionate as this!”

“You’re a real hardass,” Mondo remarked. “Hey Chiaki, I meant what I said. If either of them try to hit you, I’ll kick both their asses. Got it?”

“Thanks, Mondo…”

“There you are, lil’ Aki! You’re late! You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!”

_ I didn’t want to show up here at all,  _ Chiaki thought.

“Okay, so…how are we supposed to do this again?” She asked.

“It is nothing short of a battle to the death,” Celeste replied. “We must resolve this conflict once and for all.”

“A battle for the death?! Isn’t that…too harsh?”

“Lil’ Aki is right! Ruruka is sooooo merciful, after she wins she’s gonna spare Ludenbutt’s life!”

“You fool! I am a far kinder soul than you!”

Chiaki seriously doubted that. It was at this point that she finally noticed the two were in swimsuits. If she was that slow to pick up such an obvious detail, was she really in any shape to be a referee?

“Okay!” Taka shouted. “You two, please get into your fighting stances! This battle is about to begin!”

“Kick her ass, Ruruka!” Leon shouted.

“I believe in you, Miss Ludenberg!” Hifumi cried.

“I hope you both die,” Said Byakuya.

“Okay…” Chiaki mumbled. “Three…two…two and a half…”

“Get on with it!” Ryoko shouted.

“Z-zero…!”

Chiaki hid her face in her hands. Both girls screamed. She could hear slams of impact and peeked from behind her fingers.

Celeste currently had Ruruka in a chokehold as she reached for a macaron.

“W-wait, don’t…” Chiaki stammered. In a flash, Ruruka had somehow escaped and grabbed one of Celeste’s hair extensions, tugging on it and bringing her to the ground. They both clawed at each other and kicked up the sand. The others were all chanting and cheering on. This was insane. What the hell was she supposed to do?!

“I’ll go get help!” Hiro shouted and ran off. Chiaki prayed that he would get back soon…at this rate, they were going to kill each other!

The battle raged on. Celeste headbutted Ruruka and she stumbled back, before retaliating with a right hook. It threw her back. She grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at Ruruka, who dodged it, but it left a gash that was drawing blood. Chiaki feebly tried to intervene.

“Guys, wait…”

“Shut up!” They both screamed.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass followed by a piercing shriek was heard. Everyone froze.

“What the hell was  _ that?” _ Mondo asked.

“Shit, are you okay?!” Kizakura said, his voice faint but distinct.

“Dammit!” Leon shouted. “We’ve been found out! Scramble!”

“Not so fast,” Sakura said, looming behind him.

“Aaaaaaaah!!!”

Everyone froze in terror. They were busted, busted,  _ busted. _

_ Oh no… _

“You two!” Sakura shouted. “What in god’s name do you think you’re doing?”

Celeste stood up wobbly and brushed the sand off her bruised legs.

“Well, we  _ were  _ having a battle to the death until you so rudely intervened.”

“Yeah!” Ruruka shouted. “Why’d you have to go and ruin it? Ruruka was about to win!”

“I’m sorry…” Chiaki whimpered. “I tried to stop them, but…”

“It’s all right, Chiaki. Taka told me everything.”

“What the fuck?! You bastard!” Mondo shouted.

“Violence is not welcome in  _ any _ environment!” Taka shot back. “Just look at you! You’re both all bloody and covered in sand! What would’ve happened if Sakura hadn’t intervened?!”

“Hiro was going to get help anyway,” Ryoko pointed out.

“Was he? I didn’t see him on the way here,” Sakura said. “In any case, I’ve brought some first aid supplies. I knew this was going to happen. Let this be a lesson for you two: violence is not an immediate solution. Come now, and I’ll fix those nasty wounds.”

As Celeste and Ruruka reluctantly walked off with Sakura, Chiaki fell to her knees, exhausted.

“What a mess…” She groaned.

“I’m sorry I didn’t intervene…” Mukuro said, kneeling next to her. “If I had, Hiro wouldn’t have had to get help in the first place.”

Chiaki paused. “Wait…where is Hiro, anyway?”

“Oh, I know!” Ryoko shouted. “That scream was definitely him! We should go find him!”

Mukuro lent her a hand, and she got up. By now, the group had dissipated, and were slowly making their way back. She noticed a few stragglers behind, standing around the edge of the beach as Sakura tended to Ruruka and Celeste’s wounds.

“Hey,” Leon waved to Mukuro as the three of them walked up. “You doing okay?”

“Of course not!” Chiaki pouted. “Look at them, they’re all beat up! I should’ve never agreed to this dumb battle in the first place…” She turned away and started walking away from him to sulk. 

“Wait, Chiaki! I’m sorry!”

“Yo, hold up, Chiaki! Is Leon being a dick again?” Mondo said as he walked over. Leon tried to intervene but Mondo glared at him and he shrunk back.

“I’m such an idiot…” She whispered, blinking back tears. 

“Trust me, it ain’t your fault. Those two idiotic bitches would’ve beaten each other up eventually. You just got stuck in the middle.”

“Hey, Chiaki…wait, what’s that in that flattened patch of grass over there? I can’t see…” Leon trailed off, then walked over to it and moved out of view. Mondo joined him and she could hear a quiet gasp.

“Huh?” Chiaki asked, walking along the trail of flattened tall grass to join the others. “What’s…”

_ Ding dong dong ding! _

The monitor nearby lit up, showing Monokuma’s face.

“A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!”

Kyoko Kirigiri was lying face down, unmoving.

**Chapter one**

**Like words in the sand**

**Daily Life**

**End**

You received a present: Silk hair ribbon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rest in Pizza Kyoko. I’m shit at writing murders, but hopefully there should be enough details to rule out at least a couple of people. Feel free to speculate, but I won’t reveal anything.


	9. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand deadly life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki investigates Kyoko’s murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the investigation. I worked really hard on this, and it took me forever to write...honestly, I can’t really say if I did a good job or not. I just hope I did.

“No…” Kizakura whispered. “No, no, no, no, _no!_ This has to be a joke!” 

“What is the meaning of this?!” Munakata shouted. He’d just arrived from the hotel. “Monokuma, what have you done?!”

“Puhuhuhu! Don’t blame me!” Monokuma cackled. “This was one of you guys’ doing!”

Chiaki was paralyzed with shock. It didn’t feel real. She’d seen Kyoko’s body, but it looked like she was just asleep face down…

“Is everyone here? Great!” Monokuma shouted. He pulled out a bunch of strange digital tablets and threw it at everyone. Most of them caught them, but Chiaki just stared as hers fell onto the ground in front of her. She picked it up with shaking hands.

“What the fuck is this?” Kizakura snapped.

“Just the greatest thing since sliced bread, of course! It’s…the Monokuma file! Check it out! You’ll find all the information about this case in it, to help you find the culprit!”

“There’s no point—I’ll smoke ‘em out myself!” Kizakura shrieked. “Come out here so I can kick your ass, you son of a bitch!”

“I don’t think they’d just reveal themselves like that…” Hina pointed out.

“Who the hell could’ve killed her, though?!” Leon said. “Everyone was doing chores!”

“Maybe if you idiots quit crying and read the file, you’d find out!” Monokuma said irritably. “Listen up! People die all the time! She was gonna kick the bucket eventually, so just be grateful it wasn’t one of you!”

“That’s _it!”_ Kizakura screamed. “I’ll fucking _kill_ you!”

He rushed towards Monokuma but Munakata held him back.

“Koichi, stop! You’ll just get yourself killed!”

“Shut up! I don’t care!” He sobbed. “Let me go! Let me go! I’m going to fucking kill him!”

Chiaki’s heart broke watching him. He was utterly inconsolable. He and Kyoko had probably known each other personally, given their shared connection to Jin Kirigiri…and now she was dead.

 _Dead._ Chiaki made a choked noise as she sank to her knees. Someone here had committed murder. Chiaki owed it to Kyoko to find out who and bring them to justice. 

Well, as much justice as could be had in this twisted game, anyway. 

She picked up the Monokuma file and pressed a button on the screen. It lit up, showing a detailed profile of the murder.

_The victim is Kyoko Kirigiri. The cause of death is blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Death was instantaneous, with only one hit. There are no signs of a struggle or substances found in the body. Time of death was approximately 12:17._

**Monokuma file #1 was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

How did Monokuma know all this? And why did he put “approximately” 12:17 instead of 12:15 or something? At least her death was probably quick…

She heard rustling and noticed Mukuro approaching Kyoko’s corpse. All she could do was watch helplessly as she ran her gloved hands over various areas of the body. She turned to Chiaki with an expression of concern.

“Hey, Chiaki. Are you doing alright?”

“…No…” She whimpered.

“I forgot…how seeing dead bodies isn’t normal for other people. That’s why I decided to examine it myself, so you and the others didn’t have to.”

“Thank you…” Chiaki sniffed. “What did you find?”

“Well, when I first checked her out, I looked at the wound and almost got stabbed. Look,” Mukuro said. She held out a sliver of glass for Chiaki to see. It was coated in dried blood—Kyoko’s blood. “If it hadn’t been for my gloves, I would’ve gotten hurt.”

**Glass Shards was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

_Gloves._ Like Kyoko’s gloves. It hurt. But still, she couldn’t let herself fall apart. Not when her and everyone else’s lives were at stake. She cleared her throat. “Uh, is there anything else?”

“Yeah,” Mukuro said as she put the glass shards away. “She…was cold. Ice cold. When I went to flip her over, I had trouble moving her. At least her eyes were closed…seeing them open would’ve been too much, even for me. Plus there were scrapes on her face, and sand all over her front…god…”

**Status of Kyoko’s body was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

Chiaki took in the information. “Why was there sand there on her front? She doesn’t seem like the kind of person to go rolling around in the sand like that.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? I don’t really understand.”

“Yeah…did you talk to her much?”

“No. Did you?”

“Well, no, but I remember seeing her talk to Mr. Kizakura late last night…”

Poor Mr. Kizakura. He was a mess. She made a note to talk to him once he calmed down a little.

“Last night…what time was that? I went out for a minute just after midnight and came back to see Leon and—” Mukuro abruptly cut off, covering her mouth.

“Huh?”

“N-nothing. It was nothing.”

**Mukuro’s account was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

“Okay, thanks, Mukuro. Let’s solve this case.”

“Yeah, for sure.”

Chiaki stood up. What time was it, anyway? She could probably ask Taka, since he had a watch. She noticed him a short distance away, and decided to take the shorter route across the grass. She had to push it out of the way. Why was it so stiff? It was almost impossible to get through. Maybe going this direction was a bad idea.

**Stiff grass was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

As she walked, she suddenly stepped on something and nearly fell over. A wooden rod popped out of nowhere and almost hit her in the face. She looked down and found a small garden rake. The tall grass had hidden it.

**Garden rake was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

**The truth bullet stiff grass was updated.**

Finally she made her way out of the grass. Taka turned to her.

“Hello,” He greeted somberly.

“Hey hey…Taka, I wanted to ask about something…”

“Go ahead. I’ll help any way I can.”

She scratched the back of her head. “So, um…I was reading the Monokuma file, and I noticed it said that Kyoko…passed away…around 12:17 pm. Do you happen to have a general timeline for this afternoon?”

“Indeed I do. First of all, there were chores from 8:45 am to 11:30 am. Mr. Munakata and Mr. Kizakura both departed around 11:45. I think they both went to their cottages. I came down to the lobby to wait for Mondo. I saw you were still upstairs along with Sakura, so I decided to inform her of the fight. I sort of hoped she would stop it entirely, and keep you from getting involved…but I guess she wanted to see the fight, too. By 11:50 most of the group had departed to the beach except you, Sakura, and Leon, who had to do dishes and was a few minutes late.”

“When did you arrive at the beach?”

“At 12:01! I’m so ashamed!”

“Well, it’s not like I wanted the fight to happen…”

“In any case…” Taka continued, “You showed up around 12:15. The fight began a minute or two later. I think Hiro left around 12:20. You saw the rest.”

“Yeah, it started getting really nasty…do you remember when Sakura showed up?”

“Well, I think she was lying in wait in case the fight got bad. I heard the crash around 12:40 or so, and she popped out to start chastising us.”

_Jeez, did the fight really last that long? No wonder it was so brutal…_

“Thanks, Taka. Oh, by the way, what time did Leon show up?”

“12:08 on the dot.”

“Okay, thanks.”

**Taka’s account was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

Chiaki decided to go ahead to where some of the others were, further down the beach. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an odd pattern on a nearby dune with a bush on it. She decided to take a closer look.

The spot had a wavy pattern that she recognized from pebble gardens she’d visited as a kid. It took her a moment to realize it was because the lines matched up with the teeth of the garden rake she’d seen in the grass earlier.

**The truth bullet garden rake was updated.**

On the ground there were several more glass shards, which also had bits of dried blood on them. What were they doing over here?

**The truth bullet glass shards was updated.**

By the glass shards were several odd looking clumps of sand…as she bent down to touch them, one of them crumbled, and she realized that they were clumps of blood. She gagged.

**Clumps of blood was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

Chiaki decided to step away from that scene before she actually threw up. How nasty…

Finally, she made her way from the beach over to the boardwalk. There, Sakura was tending to Hiro, who had bandages on his knee. She decided to let her work while she looked around, but almost stumbled into a nearby trash can.

_Stupid crooked boards...wait, what’s that?_

A sleeve was poking out of the can. She pulled it out and gasped. It was covered in fresh blood.

She dropped it back into the trash and yelped. God, there was so much blood…what on earth was that?!

**Bloody jacket was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

“Are you well?” Sakura asked, approaching her. “You look quite pale.”

Chiaki shrieked and jumped back in fright. “Aaaaaahhhh!”

“It’s just me, Chiaki. You’re going to be okay. What’s wrong?”

“Th-thanks…sorry…it’s just…the jacket in the trash…”

“Oh, that?” Sakura folded her arms. “Apparently Hiro injured himself. Kizakura was nearby and used Hiro’s jacket to stop the bleeding.”

**The truth bullet Bloody jacket was updated and renamed to Hiro’s jacket.**

“Injured himself? How?”

“You’ll have to ask him. It looked worse than it actually was, though. Just a couple of deep scratches. The hardest part was getting the bits of glass out.”

“Oh, okay…say, Sakura, what were you doing today? I’m curious.”

“Asking for an account, are you?” Sakura replied as she folded her arms. “I see…well, I joined everyone for morning chores, then went to lunch with everyone else. People started filtering out slowly, and Taka came over and told me about the fight that was going to happen. I regret not intervening earlier, like he suggested…I suppose I wanted to see a battle play out. I’m ashamed…you have my sincerest apologies, Chiaki.”

“Thank you…Taka said you came around the same time as me?”

“I left a minute or two after you. I had to go fetch the first aid kit. Then I arrived and hid myself in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to strike…”

_Why does it sound like she was an assassin or something?_

**Sakura’s account was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

“Okay, thanks, Sakura…” Chiaki said, feeling calmer. Sakura nodded and walked away. She took a breath and picked up Hiro’s jacket again…she had a feeling it would have a clue.

Carefully avoiding the massive bloodstain, she noticed some sand fall out of its pockets. On the inside of one side of the jacket, there was a dark stain with several small tears on it. She dropped the jacket in the trash and walked away.

**The truth bullet Hiro’s jacket was updated.**

Nearby Hiro was sitting on the ground, one pant leg rolled up, exposing his bandaged knee.

“Hey hey.”

“Yo, Chiaki! How’s it going? You feeling any better?”

“I guess…wait, what happened to you?”

“Oh this?” Hiro motioned to his injured knee. I dropped my crystal ball and tripped. I ended up landing on it with my knee! Hurts like hell. Sakura did a great job bandaging it up, though.”

“I’m glad. Will you be able to walk?”

“I’ll probably need some help. I’m sure Mr. Munakata will help, though. He seems reliable enough.”

“I guess…before I forget, Hiro, where did you go when you ran off? It took you a little while.”

“Oh, that? I was looking for the first aid kit! Apparently Sakura had it…dammit, if I had known she was there I could’ve just run over and stopped the fight way earlier!”

“Okay, but where did you go?”

Hiro rubbed a finger under his nose. “Hmm…well, I ran right over to the hotel lobby as fast as I could and started looking for a first aid kit, but after a few minutes I freaked out and started running away. I happened to see Mr. Kizakura so I shouted at him to follow me and we both ran over. I was ahead of him when I tripped and fell.”

**Hiro’s account was added to Chiaki’s truth bullets.**

“Okay, thanks, Hiro…I hope your knee gets better soon.” She turned away.

Off in the distance, she saw Kizakura all alone. She knew she had to get information from him, but…was it really okay? He was still really distraught. Still…

“Mr. Kizakura…”

“What do you want?” He snapped. She flinched.

His expression softened when he got a look at her.

“Sorry, kid…I’m just…out of it. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. What’s up?”

“It’s okay, I understand…I was wondering if you could tell me what happened before you arrived here.”

He nodded and tipped his hat. “How far back do you want me to start?”

“Around lunchtime…I think. Taka told me you and Mr.Munakata left a bit earlier.”

“Yeah, I went back to my cottage to relax. I admit, I knew you kids were probably up to something…but honestly, I didn’t wanna get involved. God, if I hadn’t been such a fucking coward…” He looked down.

Chiaki didn’t know what to say to that. She could tell him it wasn’t his fault…but would he get angry at her again?

“I’m sorry,” Was what she decided on.

“It’s okay,” Kizakura replied. “No use in dwelling over that now.” He opened his flask, stared at it, and then put it away. “Anyway, a little while later I heard screaming and went outside to see what was going on. I saw Hiro—I think he looked at me? And I chased after him thinking something was up. I finally caught up to him on the boardwalk after he dropped his crystal ball thing. While I was stopping the bleeding I heard…you know.”

“Yeah, thanks Mr.Kizakura.”

“Let’s bring this killer to justice,” Kizakura said.

**Truth bullet acquired: Kizakura’s account**

The closest monitor flickered on.

“Alright you hormone-riddled brats and senile farts! I’m getting tired of waiting! Everyone, please gather at Monokuma rock!

-

Once everyone had arrived, including Hiro, who was being helped by Sakura (Munakata had claimed he was too smelly to touch), one of the faces on Monokuma rock opened its mouth. Out popped a massive escalator. Chiaki wasn’t even surprised. Once everyone was inside the head, they jolted as the entire room began to move downward…it was a giant elevator.

“And so we descend into the depths of hell…” Hifumi murmured ominously.

“Pal! Not the time!” Ryota chastised.

“Ruruka hates this…” She whined.

“I agree…this is scary…” Ryoko added.

“We don’t have any other choice,” Mukuro said. Then the elevator stopped and dinged. The doors slid open. Everyone shuffled out to see a large courtroom with twenty podiums on it. Monokuma sat on a throne nearby, facing everyone, while Monomi was tied up and hanging from the ceiling.

“Okaaaay! Welcome, everybody! Do you like the _lovely_ courtroom I’ve prepared for this special occasion? Take note of the—”

“No one cares!” Leon shouted. “Just get on with it!”

“Grrr…fine! Be that way! Honestly, nobody appreciates me…get to the podiums with your name on them now!”

As Chiaki stepped up, she noticed there was one with a portrait of Kyoko, her face crossed out in blood.

“Dear god…” Kizakura whispered.

“That’s absolutely tasteless,” Munakata agreed. “Monokuma, what the hell is this?”

“Aww, I just wanted to set up a memorial! It would be terrible if Kyoko couldn’t participate in the class trial just ‘cause she’s dead, wouldn’t it? That’s why I made it so she could be here in spirit!”

“That’s not how it works, man!” Hiro protested. “There’s a whole process to it!”

Chiaki just ignored him. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

The ultimate detective, Kyoko Kirigiri…she was quiet and mysterious…but she seemed kind and sensible. She chose to investigate the situation, and ended up paying the ultimate price. She had been murdered…by one of the people in this courtroom.

 _Chiaki. Mukuro._ ~~_Kyoko_~~ _ ~~.~~ Ryota. Ruruka. _

_Hifumi. Celeste. Leon. Hiro. Sakura._

_Kizakura. Taka. Sayaka. Mondo. Munakata._

_Hina. Toko. Byakuya. Ryoko._

It felt unbelievable. But Chiaki knew that this was the reality she had to face.

She had to uncover the truth of this case. For Kyoko…

And for everyone.

If they didn’t find the blackened, they would all die.

It was a deadly game of hope and despair.

A deadly…class trial!

**Chapter 1**

**Like words in the sand**

**Deadly life**

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop! All done! I hope the culprit wasn’t too obvious. Feel free to speculate in the comments, though I won’t tell if you’re right or not. The class trial is gonna be a nightmare to write...it’ll probably be a while before I can get the next chapter out. I’m hoping it’ll only be around a week or so, though. I’ll probably have to split it in half.


	10. Chapter 1: Like words in the sand class trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial to find Kyoko’s murder begins. Who did it? What will their punishment be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT’S HERE. This monstrosity is over 4700 words and it makes me want to cry. Sorry I’ve been gone so long, this chapter gave me a shitload of trouble. I’m gonna try and get a backlog going before I post again, and do another chapter of to do the right thing next. Anyway, enjoy!

**CLASS TRIAL: NOW IN SESSION**

“Alright, let’s go over the rules again!” Monokuma shouted. “You will argue back and forth as to who the blackened is! Then, you will all make a vote for who you think it is! If you guess correctly, then only the blackened will be punished! But if you get it wrong…then everyone _except_ the blackened will be punished, and they’ll get to leave the island! Other than that, there’s pretty much no rules! Let’s get started!”

“Geez, how many times did Monokuma say ‘blackened’ just now?” Aoi grumbled.

“Only three,” Ryota said. “I kept count. Don’t encourage him.”

“Even if it’s only once, it’s still annoying…”

“We should do this in an organized manner, or at least try to,” Munakata said, folding his arms.

“Can we not do this right now?” Leon whined. “Forget about it! Let’s just start throwing things out there! That’s how I do things!”

 _Of course a baseball player would be obsessed with throwing things…_ Chiaki thought.

**Nonstop Debate!**

**Truth bullets:**

**> Monokuma file #1**

**> Glass shards**

**> Status of Kyoko’s body**

**> Mukuro’s account**

**> Stiff grass**

**> Garden rake**

**> Taka’s account**

**> Clumps of blood**

**> Hiro’s Jacket**

**> Sakura’s account**

**> Hiro’s account**

**> Kizakura’s account**

“So first thing’s first,we should establish the **time and cause of death,”** Kizakura said. “I didn’t take a look at the Monokuma file, so…”

“Why would you skip such important information?!” Taka shouted.

“Ooh! Ooh! Ruruka knows!” Ruruka said. “Kyoko was kinda sick, right? So she **must have gotten so sick she died!”**

**> Monokuma File #1**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“It couldn’t have been an illness because the Monokuma file states that she died of blunt force trauma,’ Chiaki said. “Plus, if she was that sick, I doubt she would’ve left her cottage.”

“Dang it! Ruruka thought she was onto something!” 

“At least it was probably over quickly,” Leon said. Kizakura winced. “But who could’ve done it? It would’ve taken a lot of force to kill her **in one hit…”**

“I-it was p-probably **th-that m-murderous skank,”** Toko stuttered.

“What the heck, Toko?!” Ryoko shouted. “I took a lot of detailed notes and stuff! Mukuro wouldn’t kill in cold blood!”

“Can we not jump to conclusions, please?” Kizakura asked.

“Yeah, it probably wasn’t her…” Chiaki thought aloud.

“Th-there’s no way!”

**Rebuttal showdown!**

“S-someone l-like her…”

“Is th-the only k-kind of p-person that c-could pull this off!”

**Advance!**

“Toko, you’re jumping to conclusions,” Said Chiaki. “There’s no way it could’ve been her.”

“A-and how would y-you know? I b-bet you’re covering for her!”

“No, there’s proof that Mukuro couldn’t have done it. And that’s…”

**> Taka’s account**

“I’ll slice through your argument!”

**BREAK!**

“Taka told me that Mukuro had left along with the others around noon,” Chiaki said. “The time of death was listed at 12:17. There’s no way she could’ve killed her and been at the beach at the same time.”

“Yeah, and I was there around that time too, so I can back her up on that,” Leon added. “And before you flip your lid and make me look like a suspect, Taka, I was there before the time of death, too!”

“…I just thought maybe mentioning you were seven minutes late might be important…” Taka mumbled.

“But going out of your way to state your alibi unprompted is a bit suspicious, no?” Hifumi asked.

“Oh yeah? What’s _your_ alibi, dumbass?”

“I was preparing Miss Ludenberg for her epic battle of the ages!” He stated proudly.

“Pal, I told you not to be so submissive to her—”

“Silence!” Celeste demanded. Ryota and Hifumi both shrank back and whimpered. “I will not tolerate such insubordination!”

“Insubo…what?” Asked Hiro.

“Can we deal with this dispute later, please?” Kizakura asked. “This isn’t some game. Our lives are on the line!”

Byakuya looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could, Taka spoke up.

“With my account, we can get the alibis of everyone except Mr.Munakata and Mr.Kizakura!” He said. “That makes things substantially easier!”

“I was asleep in my cottage,” Munakata said. “Honestly…dealing with those two was exhausting.”

“Ruruka is right here!” She complained.

“Why didn’t you intervene before the fight started?” Hina asked.

“I honestly didn’t notice,” He replied. “My intuition failed me…damn it!”

“A likely story!” Hifumi accused. “How would you have known to come to where the body was, hmm?”

“Monokuma alerted me!” He shot back, and rubbed his temple. “Damn bear scared me half to death…”

“And wouldn’t that have been a sight?” Monokuma cackled. “You should’ve seen the look on your face!”

“So I guess that means he really wasn’t at the scene,” Mukuro said.

“Oh, no! I gave away a spoiler! Dammit!” He shouted. “…Oh well! I guess I won’t punish anyone…this time.”

“Why would you punish us if it wasn’t even our fault?!” Hiro cried.

“So that only leaves Mr.Kizakura!” Taka said. “What were you doing, huh?!”

“I was **getting Kyoko some lunch,”** He replied.

**> Kizakura’s account**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“Mr. Kizakura, when I talked to you before, you didn’t say anything about getting Kyoko lunch,” Chiaki said. “You just said you went back to your cottage to relax.”

“That’s…I went to get Kyoko lunch and then I came back to my cottage.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t we see you getting an extra plate at lunch?” Taka asked. “You and Mr.Munakata left before everyone else!”

“I…it’s not…how do you know? You could’ve just not seen me do it!”

“Damn, that’s suspicious,” Mondo remarked.

_Something that can prove he didn’t get Kyoko lunch? Let’s see…_

**EVIDENCE SELECT**

**> Sakura’s account**

“This is what proves it!”

“Sakura, you said people were filtering out after…do you remember who, and in what order?”

“Let’s see…” She said, folding her arms. “Well, Mr.Kizakura and Mr.Munakata left to go to their respective cottages, then Celeste and Hifumi, followed by Ruruka…Hina and Sayaka were next…Taka came to me and discreetly told me about the fight, and I told him I would get the first aid kit, then he went to the hotel lobby…all the others left around the same time, except for you and Leon. That about sums it up, I believe.”

“So then…” Munakata turned to Kizakura. “…Koichi. I know you’re innocent. Just why didn’t you go to see her?”

“She told me to leave her alone!” He snapped. “She wanted to do something, and told me that she needed the whole night and day to do it! And I took her at her word!” He slammed his fist on the podium, in tears. “Damn it! I promised Jin I’d protect her! And now she’s…she’s…”

“A promise as a man…” Mondo said. He looked sympathetic, much to Chiaki’s surprise.

“Well, we now know that Kizakura lied about visiting Kyoko.” Byakuya mused. “Given the timeline, it’s certainly possible that—”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll break your nose,” Kizakura snarled.

“Mr. Kizakura, please!” Taka cried.

“Man, shut the fuck up! Dude literally just got accused of murdering the one person he made a promise to protect!” Mondo shouted. “And as for _you,_ four eyes, go fuck yourself! As soon as we’re done here I’m punching your goddamn lights out!”

“M-master has a p-point!” Toko stuttered. “W-we d-don’t have **a-any idea w-where that drunk was!”**

**> Hiro’s account**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“Hiro, you said that you saw Mr.Kizakura when you came back to get the first aid kit, right?”

“Yeah!” He raised his fist to his chest. “I figured that since he was around, maybe he knew where it was!”

Kizakura sighed with relief.

“But then the only person who could’ve killed Kyoko is…” Hina trailed off, “…No one?! But that’s impossible!”

“Maybe if we take a break from this and return to it later, we can figure it out,” Sayaka suggested. “Like we could talk about…I dunno…the murder weapon?”

“If we go by the Monokuma file, then the most obvious weapon is the rake,” Sakura mused. “After all, it was **found directly by the body…”**

**> Garden rake**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“The garden rake can’t have been used as a weapon,” Chraki said. “When I was looking arounds I found a sandy spot that had patterns on it that matched the rake…” 

“But it’s the only blunt object in the immediate area, right?” Kizakura asked. “The culprit could’ve just moved it…”

 _No,_ she thought. _I know that a different object was used because of…_

**EVIDENCE SELECT**

**> Glass shards**

“This is what proves it!”

“Mr. Kizakura, there were several glass shards stuck to the back of her head,” Chiaki refuted. “I understand why you wouldn’t notice, since…’”

“I wasn’t near the body,” He finished. “I…yeah. I understand. I didn’t think you’d be able to handle that kind of stuff. You’re a tough kid.”

“Actually, it wasn’t me…that was Mukuro.”

“Yeah, I actually took one of the shards with me…” Mukuro said, pulling it out for everyone to see. It was a thin sliver, coated with dried blood.

“But if it was in her head, shouldn’t the shard still be wet?” Ryoko asked. “Obviously the surface would be dry, but there’s still cranial fluid and stuff…”

“Oh god, don’t _say_ that,” Aoi moaned. “It’s so gross…”

“This is a murder investigation, Hina,” Byakuya said, pushing up his glasses.

“Why are you so mean?!” Ryota yelled. 

“Shut up—”

“Byakuya, unless _you_ want to end up on the chopping block, behave yourself!” Munakata shouted, unsheathing his sword.

“No violence in the courtroom!” Monokuma screamed. “The only one allowed to hurt people here is _me!”_

Munakata begrudgingly sheathed his sword again.

“Wait, so what _was_ used, then?” Hiro asked. “Some kind of easily broken glass object?”

“Yeah, like that cheap piece of shit you carry around with you,” Mondo snarked.

“Hey! It’s not a piece of crap!” He shouted. “Do you know how much money I paid for that?! I can’t believe it got broken…”

“ _You_ broke it, though,” Ryota noted.

“Could it be…that it was the murder weapon?!” Hifumi wailed.

“Why is everyone suspecting me? I had the crystal ball with me the whole time!”

“I ain’t sayin’ that. You’re too damn stupid to pull off a murder.”

“Exactly, so—wait, what?!”

“So the murder weapon is not the rake, but some sort of glass object?” Celeste asked. “But where would it be hidden?”

“It might not have been hidden at all, but destroyed,” Ryota suggested. “And then the killer could’ve thrown it in the trash or something.”

“There wasn’t really a trash can that close to the area where Kyoko's body was found, though,” Leon said. 

“I noticed a path leading up to her body,” Chiaki said. “A really long one. Why would Kyoko go that far into the grass?”

“Maybe she was running away from something?” Hiro asked. “And then she **tripped and fell!”**

**> Stiff grass**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“The flattened path of grass is way too long and wide for her to have tripped,” Chiaki said. “It only pressed down in small areas when I stepped on it.”

“That means it would have taken a large, wide amount of weight to press it down,” Mukuro said. “It seems pretty obvious that **her body was moved.”**

**> Status of Kyoko’s body**

“I think so, too!” 

**CONSENT!**

“When we found Kyoko’s body, it was covered in sand on her front. There wasn’t enough of that in the grassy area to really cause that. Plus, didn’t you say that there were cuts on her face?”

“That’s right, there were,” Mukuro replied. “Maybe getting dragged caused that.”

“That makes sense,” Leon said. “But if that’s the case, where _was_ she killed?”

“It had to have been at that sandy spot I found, the one with the wavy rake patterns! It was probably used over there and then moved, along with the body!”

“Huh?” Sayaka asked. “Are you sure?”

 _Proof that Kyoko was killed at the sandy spot?_ Chiaki thought. _There’s definitely something that can prove that…_

**> Clumps of blood**

“Here’s the proof!”

**Evidence presented!**

“When I was looking at the sandy spot I mentioned earlier…” Chiaki said, “I found some weird sand clumps. They were dark, and when I touched them, they crumbled and were dark brown and smelled like blood!”

“Eww!” Ryoko said. “That’s super gross!”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t they return back to plain sand after a while?” Munakata asked. “Wet sand doesn’t stay wet for all that long, and you were investigating for quite a bit.”

“Yeah, plus wasn’t the area you found in a sunny area?” Hiro asked.

“I know! **Blood is sticky,** and there’s more than just water in it!” Hifumi said. “That’s why it still held together after all that time!”

“I think so, too!”

**CONSENT!**

“The clumps I found were…dark…” Chiaki gagged. “And…yeah…they crumbled apart easily, but not so easily that they were just compressed. They were bone dry, though.”

“Bone dry?” Hiro asked. “But if that’s true, the blood should’ve still been kinda sticky, right? It should’ve left a stain on your hands, at least!” He held up a hand, still smeared with the dried blood from his injury. “My jacket was ruined! It was all wet…”

“Mhm, and there was something…off…about Kyoko’s body, too…” Mukuro said.

“Something ‘Off’?” Hifumi asked.

Chiaki held her chin, deep in thought.

_Let’s see…the thing that’s strange about her body was…_

**R I G O R M O R T I S**

“I see!”

“When Mukuro found Kyoko’s body, she said is was cold and stiff…but if she was really killed only a few minutes before we found her, her body would’ve been warm and flexible!”

“That’s right,” Mukuro concurred. “It takes a little while for rigor mortis to set in, and even longer for the human body to become cool to the touch.”

“Wait…so you’re saying that she couldn’t have been killed when the Monokuma file said she did?” Hina asked.

“Hey! My report is totally accurate!”

“I don’t think the time is wrong,” Chiaki said. “We’ve been making assumptions…the time of death is listed at 12:17…but _not_ at 12:17 pm!”

“Ruruka gets it! She was dead the whole time! Even if Mr.Kizakura did get her lunch, **she wouldn’t have said anything!”**

“A tragic coincidence,” Sakura said. “Had she been found earlier, the culprit would’ve been much more obvious.”

“But if she really died at 12:17 am instead of 12:17 pm, then **none of us have an alibi…”** Byakuya said.

**> Mukuro’s account**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“Mukuro…I wanted to ask about something you said to me,” Chiaki said. “When we were talking after you examined Kyoko’s body, you said you went out just after midnight. About what time was that?”

“Oh?” Mukuro said. “Um…I left maybe five minutes after midnight…I went to get some tea, since there wasn’t any way to brew it…I came back with it in my thermos around…ten minutes later? I’m not entirely sure.”

“That’s true for her, but…” Hina hesitated, “What about everyone else? I was sleeping already.”

“I can verify that,” Sakura added. I was still up, doing some light reading. But as Hina said, we need to have backups for everyone’s alibis, or at least enough to bring the potential culprits down.”

“That’s true,” Taka said. “I trust Mukuro, but can anyone else vouch for her?”

A brief silence overcame the group. Chiaki gave Mukuro a pleading look.

“I…I don’t want to…”

“Mukuro…” Ryoko whispered. “I know you’re not a bad person, but there’s something you’re hiding…someone you want to protect—”

“It was me.”

Everyone turned to Leon. He looked angry, angrier than Chiaki had ever seen him.

“I’m the person she wanted to protect…she saved me from getting murdered. Isn’t that right, _Sayaka?”_ He spat out her name venomously.

The entire group gasped. Sayaka was pale as a ghost.

“Wait, I can explain!” She cried. “It’s not…my bandmates…”

“Come to think of it, Leon _was_ acting pretty cagey around you this morning,” Munakata said. “Such an oversight on my part…”

“It doesn’t matter! I didn’t murder anyone!” Sayaka shouted. “That means it’s okay! Right? Right?!”

“Ruruka hates this!” She shouted. “Ruruka doesn’t feel safe around Lil’ Saya anymore! What if she tries it again?!”

“Why didn’t you tell us before, Mukuro?” Kizakura asked. Everyone was suspicious of you in the beginning.”

“Y-you’re a snake!” Toko accused. “Y-you and S-sayaka both!”

“This is exactly what I wanted to prevent…” Mukuro said. “All this paranoia! Now we’re getting off topic…”

“I mean, we can all pretty much say we were sleeping, right?” Hina said. “So really, that still only narrows it down by three people!”

“Actually…” Kizakura said, “Wasn’t pretty much everyone else well-rested in the morning? Even Sayaka, Leon, and Mukuro. They probably went back to bed. They came to breakfast normally. Everyone did, except for…”

“Except for Hiro,” Munakata finished. Everyone turned to face him.

“Wh-what?!” He squawked. “I was just having trouble sleeping, that’s all!”

“But you’ve never been so late that I had to come knocking at your door,” Kizakura replied.

“And there’s something else that’s been bothering me, Hiro…” Chiaki said. “Earlier, you talked about the sandy spot I found, and you said it was sunny…how would you know something like that?”

“There’s nothing to it! **I happened to see the spot while we were investigating!”**

**> Hiro’s Jacket**

“No, that’s wrong!”

**BREAK!**

“You couldn’t have seen the sandy spot, because you were still injured,” Chiaki reasoned. “You even needed help walking here!”

“Yeah! And didn’t you say you went to the hotel lobby?!” Hifumi shouted. “And you said you saw Mr.Kizakura, too! Both of which contradicts his testimony!”

“He’s lied before!” Hiro countered. “He could just have lied again!”

“But what about my account?” Sakura countered. “Come to think of it, you were still in the cafeteria when Taka spoke to me. Could it be that you overheard us and planned to dispose of your jacket and crystal ball at that point? Very clever…”

“This is a load of shit!” He screamed. “You’re all just out to get me!”

 _This is getting insane,_ Chiaki thought.

**Panic Talk Action!**

“Show me the proof!”

“I’m at least 30% right!”

“Can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!”

“The occult is bullcrap!

“Conspiracy!”

“Give it a rest!”

“The end is nigh!”

**Dark-Stain-Inside-Jacket**

“This is it!”

“Hiro…there was more than just your blood on that jacket. There was an older stain, too…and it couldn’t have been more of your blood, because you didn’t have any other injuries, right?”

“Right…” He whimpered.

“And the scratches were from—”

“I did it, alright?!” He snapped. “I…I killed her. With my crystal ball…so boil me, stab me, do whatever you like…” He began to cry.

Chiaki couldn’t hate him when she saw him like that.

**CLOSING ARGUMENT**

“It’s time to recap everything that happened!

“Yesterday and the day before that, Monokuma gave us two motives: one involving a specific memory of the person we most cared about, and another featuring our loved ones. The first one was seemingly ineffective, so Monokuma gave us the second one, via an arcade machine with custom games only each specific person could play. The culprit received the information on their mother, and a plan began to form.

“As the group was returning, Mr.Kizakura and Kyoko discussed something, and Mr.Kizakura agreed to leave Kyoko alone for the next day, claiming that she was sick. Whether the culprit overheard this conversation or just happened to be awake at the right time is unclear, but the end result was the same.

“For whatever reason Kyoko decided to take a walk around midnight. The culprit, seeing an opportunity, followed her. Shortly afterwards, Mukuro returned to her cottage from her midnight snack and came across Sayaka plotting to murder Leon and frame Ryoko. Mukuro managed to talk her down and make her confess her plan to Leon. The three all went back to bed, believing that a murder plot had been foiled…little did they know that it was already too late.

“The culprit snuck up on Kyoko, who was deep in thought at her favorite observation spot, and used the murder weapon, a crystal ball, to hit her from behind. It cracked, leaving shards of glass in her skull and on the ground nearby. Seeing the amount of blood coming out of her head, the culprit took off their jacket and placed it on the back of her head to stop the bleeding. However, there was already blood on the sand and it coagulated into several clumps.

“Because Kyoko was on the ground, the culprit’s jacket picked up a small amount of sand. Some of the shards of glass in her skull were sticking out, and left small tears on the inside pocket. The culprit probably didn’t even notice. They had probably seen Kyoko standing in that area before, and knew that it would be suspicious if she was found dead at her usual haunt. So they moved her body over to a grassy area nearby, and the weight of her body being dragged caused the grass to flatten down. She was probably dragged face down, and it left a series of cuts on her face.

“The culprit realized that the trail from the sand would’ve made the movement of her body obvious, so they went and picked up a rake from the supermarket and covered up their tracks by running it through the sand. Then they threw the rake into the grass nearby and returned to their cottage, jacket and crystal ball in hand. The guilt of their actions kept the culprit from sleeping a wink.

“The following morning, Mr. Kizakura went looking for the culprit to bring them to breakfast. They had finally managed to fall asleep earlier, and thus was rudely awoken when he came knocking at their door. Not wanting to implicate themself, they rushed out without their jacket, claiming they didn’t have time to put it on.

“After lunch, the culprit, along with the rest of the students, slowly filtered out of the hotel lobby to head over to the beach for Celeste and Ruruka’s fight. As they were leaving, they overheard Taka and Sakura talking about the fight, and learned that she was going to be bringing the first aid kit with her. This would mean that they could have an excuse if they ran off, and they could claim that it was because they were looking for the missing first aid kit.

“When the time was right, the culprit snuck away to find and dispose of their jacket and the murder weapon. However, as they returned to their cottage, they noticed Mr.Kizakura standing nearby, and shouted either to distract him by leading him to the fight, or more likely, out of surprise.

“Mr.Kizakura came running after them. Noticing the trash can nearby, the culprit smashed their crystal ball on the ground and deliberately wounded themself. Knowing that the first aid kit was missing, they realized that the only way to clean up the blood would be with their jacket, and the fresh bloodstain would hide the old one. Unfortunately for them, Mr.Kizakura only used part of the jacket to stop the bleeding, leaving the older bloodstain uncovered.

“After that, the fight fell apart. In the chaos that ensued, we found Kyoko’s cold, lifeless body. Knowing this…the only person here who could’ve killed Kyoko Kirigiri…is you, Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

-

“Alright everybody! It’s voting time!” Monokuma announced cheerfully. “Pick your person! Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? Let’s find out!”

Everyone, including a sobbing Hiro, cast their votes.

A slot machine appeared behind Monokuma. The wheels spun, and after a few seconds stopped on a pixelated version of Hiro’s face. Trumpets blared and confetti rained down from the ceiling, as if they had just won the lottery and not sentenced someone to death.

“Congraaaatulations! You picked the right culprit! Oh, I’m so proud of you…” He wiped a faux tear from his eye. “Puhuhuhu! Just kidding!”

“But…why?” Ryota asked, incredulous. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“I had to see her!” Hiro shouted. “My mom! She…she could be in danger…when I saw that memory of her, she was frowning for some reason…and then Monokuma showed us that picture, and I _knew_ something was wrong! I had to do something…!”

“So you _did_ lie about the memory! I knew it!” Leon yelled.

“You goddamn coward!” Kizakura shouted. “Just how fucking selfish can you be?! You seriously think she would’ve wanted anything to do with you if you had committed _mass murder?!”_

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got!”

“I’m sorry!” He wailed. “Please, forgive me!”

“Iiiiiiiiit’s punishment time!”

He continued to cry and beg for forgiveness as a chain clamped around his neck and dragged him away.

-

**Hiro was found guilty. Time for the punishment!**

**30% Pass/Fail**

**Ultimate Clairvoyant Yasuhiro Hagakure’s Execution: Executed**

Hiro was dragged by the chain and landed in the middle of a small circular room. Three doors surrounded him. He was supposed to choose one to escape. He broke into a sweat.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned and walked to a door labeled “C” and turned the handle…only for it to somehow _grow legs and run away._ Hiro shrieked and fell backwards as it ran over to a door labeled “A” and jumped inside. After staring in shock for a few moments, he shakily got to his feet. Taking care to keep his eyes on door A—no way was he going to touch _that_ one—he approached door B. Finally, turned to it and twisted the knob…only for it to _also_ sprout legs and run. It went the same way as door C. Hiro stared at it, slack jawed.

That only left door A. It began shaking violently, and Hiro wasn’t surprised this time when it sprouted legs, but this time was different—this time, it grew _teeth._ It ripped from its frame and let loose an animalistic roar, before charging towards Hiro. He fruitlessly scrambled to the back wall. It was no use; the door opened its mouth and promptly bit him in half. Blood and guts sprayed everywhere; and it leaned down like an animal to finish its meal. After gorging itself, it stood up and burped loudly, only a large bloodstain on the floor remained of the Ultimate Clairvoyant.

Yasuhiro Hagakure was dead.

-

Chiaki heard screaming in the courtroom. After a few seconds, she realized _she_ was the one screaming. She played gory FPS games on the regular, but this…this was a real person. Hiro, who had tried his best to cheer her up, was dead. Dead, dead, _dead._

No one deserved to die like that.

Everyone else was in a similar state. Ryota had vomited, much to Monokuma’s anger. Taka had his head in his hands, tears streaming down his face. Hina and Toko had both fainted. Munakata’s face had gone as white as his hair. And Kizakura was just…

Staring at the ground. His hair and hat covered his eyes, so she couldn’t tell what kind of expression he was making. His shoulders started to shake.

“Justice…is…done,” He choked out. “Justice is done.”

Nobody in the courtroom actually believed it.

-

Everyone trudged back, shaken. Chiaki and Kizakura lingered behind, both staring at Monokuma rock.

“Mr. Kizakura…”

“…I’ll be fine,” He murmured, more to himself than Chiaki. “I’ll be…fine.”

“Mr. Kizakura…I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Hm?” He turned to face her.

“Um…” She fidgeted with her hands and looked down. “I had overheard you two talking last night, and…if it’s okay…what were you guys saying…?”

“It’s fine.” He replied. He looked up at the sky and stroked his goatee. “Let’s see…”

-

_“You think you’ve found a clue as to why we’re here?” He asked._

_“Yes. Or rather, a person,” Kyoko said. “The clues are all there…I can almost taste it.”_

_“Don’t tell me you’re gonna pull an all nighter again,” He groaned._

_“That’s exactly what I intend to do. I need absolute focus.”_

_“Kyoko…”_

_“Just leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to speak to anyone. Don’t check on me.”_

_“Fine. But if you aren’t responsive by dinner, I’m gonna knock down the door.”_

_“That’s fair.”_

_“Just who are you investigating, anyway? What did you find?”_

_Kyoko took a breath, and spoke up._

_“Chihiro Fujisaki, the eighteenth student, hidden somewhere on Jabberwock Island. They’re waiting for us, I can feel it.”_

**Chapter 1**

**Like words in the sand**

**End**

You received a present: Crystal ball shard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. Two survivors down. I felt bad for killing Hiro, but if you’ve read all hope lost he got executed there and I love his unused execution so I had to include it. Speaking of which, I’m not satisfied with the way I translated it—I wanted it to be less literal, but if you have some better suggestions I may change it.  
> Also, one last thing: I’ve made some art for this au! Here’s [Ryota as a remnant of despair](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/j9r6aq/by_the_power_of_shitty_tracing_i_give_youryota/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and [Akane as a future foundation member!](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/j9wrwl/after_doing_despair_ryota_i_decided_to_do_future/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) Both with details in the comments. I’m planning on doing better, more detailed art later. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone deals with the fallout from the class trial in different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He guys, I’m back! And this time with a much shorter gap! Here’s the newest chapter! Note: there are non-graphic references to suicide this time. Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1000 HITS!!! I’m so happy!

First blood.

Except it isn’t the first, is it? Not really.

You may not realize it, but you have experienced this many times before. We have experienced it.  _ I _ have experienced it.

The pain. The screams. The agony. The suffering. You are mine. I am yours.

-

Breakfast wasn’t made when Chiaki dragged herself into the restaurant the next morning. It was dead quiet save for the distant sounds of Ruruka humming in the kitchen. Almost half the people were gone; of those present Chiaki counted seven: Mukuro, Ryoko, Taka, Byakuya, Toko, Munakata, and surprisingly enough, Kizakura. Chiaki made her way towards Mukuro and Ryoko and sat down next to them.

“Hey hey,” She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hi Chiaki…” Ryoko replied glumly. She was doodling absently in her notebook, and her leg was bouncing like crazy. Chiaki could make out the words “door” and “Hiro” on the pages she was writing over.

_ The description of his execution, _ She thought.  _ I wish I could forget it as easily as that… _

Ruruka walked in carrying trays of breakfast pastries, but Chiaki couldn’t look at them.

“Oh, screw it!” Ryoko yelled, throwing down her pen. “I hate this! Everyone is so quiet! It’s like we’re trying to forget those horrible things…I can’t stand it! Can’t we talk about this?! It’s the only way to resolve these awful feelings!”

Munakata sighed. “Give it time,” He said. “What we witnessed yesterday was deeply disturbing. I’m not surprised that people are shaken; it’s going to take time for everyone to process it.”

“Hmph!” Ruruka scoffed, folding her arms. “Ruruka is super over it! You guys are big babies!”

The entire room gasped.

“How could you say such a thing?!” Taka shouted.

“It’s really sad that Kyoko died...but Hiro was a stinky murderer! Ruruka doesn’t feel sorry for him at all!”

“I agree,” said Kizakura. “He was a coward.”

“But the way he was killed was so...so...”

“Brutal?” Byakuya asked. “I agree.”

“I thought you were all about that stuff,” Mukuro remarked.

“Stop talking,” He shot back. “While this is very obviously a game, and I intend to be a winner, that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy…certain aspects.” He finished his cup of coffee and walked out.

“M-master! W-wait for me!” Toko said as she followed him.

Chiaki was sick to her stomach.

_ How could something like this happen? _

-

To say Leon was troubled would be like saying the ocean was slightly damp. After the clusterfuck of the previous afternoon, he was  _ terrified. _ He had been worried enough about the idea of Sayaka killing him, but now he had the extra worry of getting executed by Monokuma. Oh sure, he’d seen the spears come out of the ground, but seeing what happened to Hiro was what made it  _ real. _

God, just the memory of it had him scrambling to the toilet. He heaved, but there wasn’t anything left. He’d puked his guts out once he got back to his cottage the afternoon before, and hadn’t left to eat anything since. Instead he had moped all day and night; he couldn’t even pick up his guitar. He was scared, tired, and most of all,  _ hungry. _ He couldn’t stay locked up in his cottage forever. But what the hell was he supposed to do? He had a baseball bat he could defend himself with, but his swing was strong enough that it would probably get any would-be attacker killed. And by god, he did  _ not  _ want to find out what being executed felt like. Knowing Monokuma, it’d be something smartass like getting pelted to death with baseballs—

No. He couldn’t continue that train of thought. He closed the toilet lid and carefully got up. He was hungry, and he was bored. He’d get some food, the restaurant was an enclosed space, so as long as he kept his eyes and ears open he could probably stay safe. But what about after that? He couldn’t stay in his cottage forever, and the hotel lobby had the risk of running into Sayaka again, an encounter he was  _ not  _ ready for. It was risky enough going up to the restaurant to get food, but he could at least make a run for it. No, he needed something to do.

Leon sighed aloud and straightened up. It was early enough, maybe some people were getting food there that he could hang around so he wasn’t alone.

-

Leon sneaked up into the restaurant, glancing back and forth the whole time.

“Good morning, Leo!” Ruruka said cheerily. Leon jumped back and yelped.

“Gah! You scared me!”

“Sooooryyy,” Ruruka responded in a tone that suggested she was not actually sorry at all. “You came at a good time! Ruruka just put out more treats!”

He looked over to the table and found she was right. Glancing over to the tables nearby, he noted only a few people; Sakura and Hina at one table, and Munakata at the other. He seemed to have finished up his food, and stood up to put his dishes away.

“Good food as usual,” He said tersely as he passed the two.

Leon didn’t really understand what had happened before he got here, but it clearly wasn’t good.

“Cmon, try some! Ruruka branched out today!”

Ruruka insisted, pushing Leon towards the food. “Ruruka made not-sweet stuff for the first time ever!”

“Uh, sure,” He replied, still in a stupor.

After sitting down with a bagel (it was too sweet, but Ruruka was way too scary for him to tell her that), Leon contemplated his options. Hina and Sakura had gotten up and left, and he wasn’t sure where they’d run off to. There was the rocketpunch market, but the floor had tile and with his sneakers if he made a run for it they would make noise and alert an attacker of his location. The airport was a total mess. And staying in the hotel just wasn’t an option.

He found himself gravitating towards the farm work; he hated the idea of it, but at least it was something to  _ do. _ Shoveling shit wasn’t something that required much brainpower. Plus, he was pretty sure Munakata went that way…if anyone could keep him safe from Sayaka, it was him.

Decision made, he put his dishes in the bin and headed out.

-

After breakfast, Ryoko ran back to her cottage and cried. She cried and cried and cried, harder than Mukuro could ever remember seeing someone cry in her whole life.

“Why?!” She screamed. “Why did something like this happen?! How could everyone be so  _ cruel?!” _

Mukuro didn’t know what to say, so she just continued to rub Ryoko’s back. Despite her current state, she continued to write in her notebook, albeit messily.

_ I’m sad Kizakura MEAN bad Ruruka I’m sad _

The ink was blotted in places from her tears. It broke Mukuro’s heart. 

“They, they, just,” She continued blubbering, “A-and, Ruruka, and, Mister, Kizakura…!”

Mukuro pulled her into a hug. “I know,” She whispered. “Seeing a death like that…it’s hard on everyone.”

“But—but Mr.Kizakura is so  _ nice…! _ Why, would he…?!”

“Mr.Kizakura and Kyoko were apparently very, very close,” She replied. “Like you and Yasuke, or me and my…sister.”

Something about saying that made Mukuro feel weird. She’d mentioned Junko before, but only in passing, though Ryoko probably knew how close she was to her. She couldn’t help but compare them; behind their ditzy personalities were incredibly sharp minds, and a resolve of steel. Maybe that was why she’d been drawn to her in the first place.

“But, then…and how did you, know…?” She she sniffled. Her sobs had died down for the most part.

Mukuro looked away. “We talked for a little while last night, when I was on my run.”

“At the beach?”

“Yes,” She replied. After a minute of contemplation she added, “He was staring at the ocean, and…he’d taken off his shoes.”

Ryoko’s eyes went wide. They welled up with tears again. “That’s so—” She scrambled for another notebook and pen, and quickly flipped through it to write that factoid down.

Mukuro grabbed her hand. “Wait, Ryoko—”

“Don’t stop me, please! I need to write this down before I forget! I don’t wanna accidentally make him upset!”

She paused. “Okay, just…just don’t tell anyone about this, okay? And don’t tell anyone I told you this.”

“This…the thing? No, no, I’m losing it! I can’t lose this!”

“Don’t worry, Ryoko…I guess I should give you the full story.”

Ryoko tearfully nodded and picked up her pen.

-

_ Mukuro sighed as she took a breather before she approached the beach. She took these runs twice a day, morning and night, and today was no exception. Instead of clearing her mind, however, the run seemed to make her focus on the events of the day harder. _

_ Kyoko with her skull bashed in. Hiro, bitten in half. She thought she’d abandoned the sight of horrific corpses long ago, but they had followed her all the way here. There was no escape from her past—which had encroached on the present, and threatened to take over her future as well. She hated it. _

_ Mukuro snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed a figure on the shore. Was that… _

_ “Mr.Kizakura?” _

_ “Oh—ah, hey,” He snapped, startled. “How are you? Beautiful evening, huh?” _

_ “What are you doing?” _

_ A silence fell upon them. She saw that he had his shoes and hat in one hand, and he made a feeble attempt to hide them. He looked away, guiltily. _

_ “Just, taking a walk, is all,” He replied. He turned back to her and gave her a fake smile. “Appreciating the feel of the sand. You know how it is.” _

_ It was a flimsy cause and they both knew it. Another tense silence passed between them. _

_ “…Okay. I’ll…see you at breakfast tomorrow, yeah?” _

_ “Sure thing, kid. Night.” _

-

Ryoko just stared at her for a minute. It was one thing to get a mention of it, but telling her the whole story…

“That’s horrible,” She said. “That’s just…horrible.”

“Yeah,” Mukuro agreed, “It is. Thank god I found him when I did…”

Ryoko closed the notebook and put it away. “Thank you for telling me everything,” She said. “I guessed one thing had went down, but I didn’t understand why he was at breakfast after…”

Neither of them wanted to continue that thought.

“But!” Ryoko piped up with a little forced cheer, “This means you saved him! From despair and stuff! So…at least that’s better! We gotta still have hope, right? Right?”

Mukuro wearily smiled. In that moment all she could see was Junko. And even if she wasn’t here, Ryoko was. That made her heart a little brighter.

“Yeah,” She said, “That’s right.”

-

Leon approached the ranch after picking up a pair of boots and discarding his jacket; there, Munakata was bringing over a bucket of slop to the pig’s manger. He was also wearing boots, and more casual clothes instead of his suit. He noticed Leon approach and gave a nod.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” He remarked. “I didn’t peg you as the type of person who’d come back after getting disappointed.”

“Yeah, well…I’m just bored, is all. I gotta do something stupid and mindless.

Munakata chuckled mirthlessly.

“Yeah, well, you’ve come to the right place. No one else is in this area, so there’s plenty to do.”

“Please tell me there’s no shit shoveling,” Leon complained.

“No, but there are eggs to collect. Did you pick up a pair of gloves?”

He slapped his forehead. “Dammit!”

“Don’t worry,” He responded. “I’m pretty sure there’s a spare pair of gloves around here. If not, you can always borrow mine.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Probably in their cottages. Only Taka seemed interested in doing any chores, which isn’t surprising. He’s off at the rocketpunch market.”

So he had a choice between dealing with Taka, potentially running into Sayaka, going insane in his cottage, or touching shitty eggs. The choice was obvious.

“Fine,” He moaned. “Just show me what to do.”

-

Chiaki had just finished another round of gala omega when she felt her stomach rumble. Normally she would’ve ignored it, but this time it was different. She felt sick the second she had turned on her game girl; it felt like a void was going to open up and swallow her whole. She hated it. But at the same time, it felt right. She  _ wanted _ to feel miserable. Anything was better than the crushing numbness that had settled over her. The horrific flashbacks to that accursed game gave her something to hold on to.

So when the opportunity to find a way to feel something other than misery presented itself, she naturally took it. Not even bothering to turn her gamegirl off, she grabbed her handbook and ran out the door.

Once she had finished stuffing herself with leftover breakfast pastries, she went downstairs to the lobby. She had settled down and realized that what she had been doing was harmful, so she decided to play on the arcade machine instead.

After a few minutes of playing, she heard footsteps coming in her direction.

“Woah, Chiaki! You’re so good at that game! You really are the ultimate gamer!” Said Hina.

“Impressive indeed,” Said Sakura.

“Hey hey,” She greeted, not bothering to look up at them. It was nice to see, or rather, hear, a friendly face.

“Mind if we watch?” Hina asked.

“Sure, go ahead…I’m kinda in the middle of a hard part, though…”

“We understand. Hina and I will be quiet, so we do not distract you.”

As if on cue, a rag slammed onto the screen, obscuring her view. She immediately lost.

“What the heck?!” Hina shouted. “Couldn’t you have waited until she was done?!”

“Apologies! But every other glass surface in this area has been wiped already, and I couldn’t wait any longer!”

Chiaki cursed to herself and looked up. There was Taka, holding a rag and a spray bottle, wiping at the surface of the table. He looked like he hadn’t slept.

“You have been on top of chores today, Taka,” Sakura noted.

“Hahaha! A little cleaning always helps me to relax after a stressful…”

“Execution?” Chiaki finished.

“Hahahaha! That’s…right…!” He bellowed, forcing a laugh and a smile. He looked like he was about to pass out. “A-after all, they still need to get done! We mustn’t shirk our responsibilities, after all! After this, I intend to check the rocketpunch market a third time!”

“A…third time?” Sakura asked.

“Yes! I must pick up the slack, along with Mr.Munakata!” He said, placing his hands on his hips. “Which reminds me, where is Mr.Kizakura?” He asked.

“Probably still in his cottage,” She replied.

“That good-for-nothing alcoholic! Hmph!”

“Hey, knock it off!” Hina shouted. “He was super upset! He lost Kyoko! Of course he’s gonna be sad!”

“Still, in times of strife—”

“Taka! Have more empathy!” Sakura interjected. Chiaki was shocked; she had never heard her raise her voice. Ever.

“Do you understand? Mr.Kizakura isn’t just upset. He is  _ grieving.  _ Though he may be an adult, he is still human! And as unconventional his behavior may be, you should not look down on him for that! Be ashamed!”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Sakura, the stoic martial artist, had just lost her cool. It was a terrifying sight to behold.

Taka seemed to shrink in on himself. His face turned red, and tears came into his eyes. Sakura sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I must apologize,” She said. “It was unfair of me to vent my frustrations on you. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me.”

“It’s okay…” He trailed off. “I was…”

“Um, Taka…” Chiaki said. “Could it be…you’re acting like this because you're scared? It’s pretty normal to do that…trying to pretend everything is the same…”

“But it’s not!” Hina added. “We can’t act like nothing happened, otherwise we’ll all just…explode! Sometimes it doesn’t have to be okay!”

“Hina and Chiaki are right,” Sakura said. “ _ All  _ of us are scared. That’s why it is more important now to form bonds and rely on each other than ever before.”

“I’m sorry!” He wailed as the tears overflowed. “I’m so…sorry…!”

All three girls comforted him while he cried.

-

By the time Leon and Munakata had finished up, it was early evening. They’d gone back and forth between various places; the Usami corral, the market, and even the airport, where Ryoko and Mukuro were still dutifully cleaning up. They were both exhausted. As they walked back to the cottages, Munakata turned to Leon.

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for helping out today,” He said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Thanks…” Leon muttered, looking ragged. “Just wanted to distract myself, is all…”

Ah. There it was. The thing that had been troubling him all day. Leon had always been reluctant to help out with work, so why was he so adamant about doing it today?”

“Leon…are you troubled? You know you can talk to me.”

“Oh yeah? Well what’s your plan to stop another murder then, huh?” Leon abruptly snapped. “You act all big and strong but you can’t figure that out?! I’m just—I can’t—”

He let out a choked sob. He nearly fell to his knees, but Munakata rushed over and grabbed him. In that moment, he didn’t see a young man; he saw a scared, confused kid who had been betrayed and witnessed horrific violence no one should ever have to see.

And Munakata didn’t know what to say to him. Leon was right; he  _ wasn’t _ prepared for something like this. Monokuma was far, far more powerful than he could have ever imagined. He had never been good with managing kids; that was Chisa’s specialty. So what the hell could he do?

“I can’t promise anything,” He began, “Regarding Monokuma. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Leon shouted back. “If it weren’t for Mukuro, I’d be dead! What if he gives us another motive, huh?! What if one of  _ you _ tries to kill us?!”

“That’s not going to happen!” He snapped back. “I said I couldn’t promise anything with Monokuma,  _ not _ with everyone else!”

Even he was surprised by his own words. He felt like an idiot; what if Leon was right? But what he needed was some sort of reassurance, even if it was fake. Kizakura was an expert at bullshitting his way through problems, at least immediate ones. Maybe he could do the same.

“Leon, listen closely. I will never,  _ ever _ attempt to hurt you. Any of you. And it’s my job to keep you safe. You’re right, it  _ isn’t  _ Monokuma we have to worry about. I won’t let anyone murder you. I promise I’ll be more observant from now on. Got it?”

Leon looked at him suspiciously, then nodded.

“Fine,” He replied. “As long as you keep me safe from that crazy b—”

_ “Leon!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s that. I always felt it was unrealistic that the kids just kind of...moved on from the murders and executions literally the day after they happened. Hopefully this didn’t come off as filler. Anyway, next chapter is where the second island comes in!


	12. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new island is unlocked, leading to more mysteries for everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry it’s been so long. These last few weeks have been...pretty crazy, not gonna lie. But! I’m here with another chapter! I also have some fanart I made that I’ll link in the bottom notes.

The pain of death lingers over you like a dark cloud. But all dark skies clear eventually.

Sleep well, and soon, revelations will come. They always do. Keep searching, and you will find me.

And always remember:

You are mine,

And I am yours.

-

When she woke up, Chiaki felt much better than she had the previous day. She’d cried when she got back to her cabin, finally letting herself feel again. Seeing the others working through their feelings helped her a lot. Now, she was a little less empty.

So when someone started loudly knocking on her door, she didn’t ignore it. Instead she slid out of bed and answered it.

“Good morning, Chiaki!” Taka greeted. “It is almost time for the morning meeting!”

“Morning meeting? We’re still having those?”

“That’s right! Last night, Mr. Munakata and Mr. Kizakura announced that they would hold them again so that everyone stayed in groups for safety.”

“Sorry, I guess I missed that…”

She’d gone to bed early without dinner, which was probably why she was up so early.

“I don’t blame you, honestly,” He replied solemnly. “That’s why I decided to come get you first! You must be hungry, and a healthy breakfast is a very important start to the day!”

“Thanks,” She replied. “I’ll be out in fifteen minutes, twenty at most.”

“Excellent!” He smiled. “I look forward to seeing you there!”

-

True to her word, she was there within twenty minutes. Everyone was there, even Sayaka, although she was sitting all alone in a corner. Chiaki briefly contemplated sitting next to her before Taka waved and motioned for her to come sit down. She grabbed some food and obliged.

“Hey hey,” She said.

“Yo,” Mondo said, slamming his tray on the table. “This hardass ain’t harassing you, is he?”

“How rude! I simply invited her to sit!”

“Yeah, right!”

It seemed that she had become a proxy in yet another rivalry. At least these two seemed to listen to reason.

“Guys, it’s fine, honest,” She said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mondo grumbled. Taka pouted, but didn’t say anything else.

Munakata stood up and loudly cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Everyone, I’m glad you were able to make it,” He said. “I understand that the last two days have been extraordinarily stressful.”

“Obviously,” Byakuya remarked.

“So I’m implementing some changes,” He continued. “First of all, from now on, it is required that everyone travel in groups of no less than two people, though three is recommended. It will not be random, however.”

“Yeah, you can choose to an extent, but you’ll still have to run it past us,” Kizakura added. “Same thing applies to chores. And yes, we’re still doing those, just with different groups. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it!” Ryoko said.

Ryota cleared his throat.

“Um, actually, before that…” He said, “Has anyone else noticed something…weird going on? I heard a bunch of crashing last night, but I wasn’t sure what it was…”

“I noticed something on my run, actually,” Mukuro said. “One of the bridges is open. It’s not guarded by anything.”

“Yeah, I helped defeat it!” Monomi said, hopping up onto one of the tables. “It was easy peasy!”

“Yaaaaay! Usami’s here!” Ruruka cheered.

Sakura did not look impressed. “If you can truly defeat one of those Monobeasts, what is stopping you from taking down Monokuma as well?”

“Yeah, I ain’t buying it,” Mondo added. “You’re in cahoots with that fuckin’ bear.”

“I’m noooot!” Monomi wailed, in tears. “I tried really hard…it hurts a lot when he punches me!”

“He does have a point, though…” Chiaki mumbled.

“Stop bullying Usami! She’s Ruruka’s new friend!”

All of a sudden, Monomi stood up straight and gasped. 

“H-he’s here! Oh no!” She dashed out the door before anyone could stop her.

“You know, I think she really wasn’t involved in this…” Ryoko said. “I’d call it gut instinct, but I think next time I’ll analyze her behavior patterns more thoroughly next time.”

“I suppose,” Munakata said.

“See? Even Ryoko and Mr. Munakata agree with Ruruka!”

_ “Where is she?!” _ Monokuma screamed, popping out of nowhere. “One of my monobeasts is missing! I know that stupid rabbit is responsible!”

“She, uh, just left,” Chiaki said. “Wait, are you saying you really didn’t remove it?”

“Well, I was  _ going  _ to, until  _ someone  _ beat me to the punch! Ooh, I swear, when I get my paws on her…”

“But isn’t she like a zombie or something?” Hina asked. 

“Hmph! You dumb kiddies wouldn’t understand the passion and love I poured into those monobeasts!” He shouted. “How would you like it if your parents took away your least favorite toy without your permission? You’d be pretty mad, don’t you think! Even if you hated it, you’d still be pretty upset, right?”

“I guess,” Chiaki said. She’d had that happen to her once or twice, when she was frustrated with a game and her mother “helpfully” got rid of it. That sort of cluelessness was why she hated her parents so much.

“Can’t relate,” Leon remarked.

“Fine! I don’t need your dumb help anyway!” He shouted. “Whatever! Point is, there’s a new island to explore! Have at it, you little bastards!”

Then, he vanished.

“Well…that was weird,” Hifumi remarked.

“We cannot let this mystery remain unsolved,” Celeste said, stroking her hair. “I suggest we spend our morning investigating.”

Kizakura flinched a little at her words. “…I think that’s a good idea,” He said. “But we should still remain in groups.”

“Thank god for that,” Mondo said. “Fuck chores.”

Chiaki noticed Sayaka curl in on herself, even more than before. “I’ll…I’ll pass, I think…I’m gonna stay here,” She mumbled.

“Fair enough,” Munakata remarked. “I’ll stay here and make some food. We can meet up at lunch and discuss everything then.”

-

Once the meeting was over, Chiaki, Leon, Hina and Mondo all wandered over the bridge together.

“I’m surprised you’re not going with Sakura,” Chiaki said as they walked across the bridge. “You two seem really attached.”

“Aww, cmon! I still have some independence!” She responded. “More importantly, what about you, Leon? And Mondo?”

“I’m here ‘cause Mondo’s here!” Leon said. “That way if anyone tries to attack me I won’t die!”

“And  _ I’m _ here to keep Chiaki safe from paranoid idiots like  _ you,” _ Mondo shot back. “Anyway, where’re we heading to first?”

Chiaki looked around. There were multiple buildings to choose from, plus a pretty looking beach.

“Ooh! Look! A diner!” Hina pointed. “Let’s go in there!”

No one made a move to protest, so they headed over. The first thing they noticed was the asphalt outside the building.

“A parking lot? Why?” Leon asked. “ It’s not like there’s any cars anywhere...”

“Or bikes. Damn place doesn’t have shit for me to do,” Mondo complained.

“Who cares? What’s important is what’s inside: food! Glorious food!”

“Didn’t you eat already?” Chiaki said.

“It’s not enough!” Hina shouted as she swung open the door. Everyone else followed her lead.

“Whoa, the food’s already made! Awesome!” Leon shouted.

“Are you sure it’s safe to eat, though?” Chiaki asked. “We don’t know who made it or how.”

Leon had apparently ignored her, having already grabbed a burger from the counter and started stuffing his face. Hina was quick to join in, happily grabbing a box of donuts.

“If you dumbasses keel over, don’t come crying to me,” Mondo scoffed. “I ain’t trusting that damn bear. That shit’s probably poisoned.”

“Your loss,” Leon remarked between bites.

“You’re so paranoid, but not about stuff like this?” Chiaki asked. “I don’t get it.”

“Whatever, they’re too busy eating to listen,” Mondo said. “Let’s get outta here.”

-

After the morning meeting, Mukuro and Ryoko spent a while finishing breakfast while the others filtered out. They cleaned their dishes and then set out together. Ryoko looked particularly excited to find new things to explore. She’d gone and picked up three other notebooks and a whole pencil case, a bounce in her step all the way. It was endearing.

Once they crossed the bridge, Mukuro immediately spotted a large, grand looking building,

“Wanna check it out?” She offered.

“Yeah! It looks awesome!”

The two of them walked inside and found a spacious library. It smelled of old books and dust. Kizakura waved at the two of them from one of the tables. Kiyotaka was on the other end, writing on some loose papers.

“Hahahaha! Isn’t this wonderful? A perfect place to continue my studies!” Taka bellowed. “No longer will I be restricted to the confines of my cottage!”

“Not so loud,” Kizakura chastised. “We’re in a library, after all. How are you two doing? This seems like it’d be a good place for you to hone your talents. Or at least Ryoko’s.”

“Hi Mr. Kizakura,” Ryoko greeted. “And you’re right! I could do tons of super analysis on some of the texts! It would be lots of fun!”

“Maybe we could study together!” Taka offered cheerfully.

“Yeah, that sounds fun!”

“I see you have also come to visit the library,” Sakura remarked, carrying a stack of books. “Taka, here are the books you requested. The bottom three are for myself, however.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Hi, Sakura. I didn’t expect you to be here…” Mukuro said. “Oh, not to stereotype you! I’m so sorry!”

“Do not fret, I understand,” She replied. “I can point you to the nonfiction section, if you like. This library is quite expansive. Though they seem to be lacking in modern titles…”

_ Maybe because it would give us clues about our situation, _ Mukuro thought,  _ And there’s no way Monokuma would allow that. _

“Ruruka found the cookbooks!” She shouted from across the lobby. “Look! Look!”

Mukuro rolled her eyes, but smiled. “I’m guessing it’s over there,” She said. Ryoko giggled.

Sakura gave a curt nod and led them over. Once they arrived, Ryoko nudged Mukuro’s shoulder.

“Look, look!” She whispered. “Toko’s stalking Byakuya again!”

Indeed she was, badly hidden in a dark area of the bookshelves. Mukuro followed her line of sight and noticed Byakuya sitting in a leather chair, one leg crossed over the other, reading something inside a Manila folder.

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked.

“I’m fishing. What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Being a jerk,” Mukuro replied, “Which is par for the course.”

“More importantly, what are you reading?” Ryoko asked. “If it’s something about the island, maybe I can help!”

“It isn’t,” He replied. “I’m reading up on files about serial killers.”

_ Serial killers?! _

Sakura scoffed. “You claim to dislike that gruesome execution, yet this interests you?”

“Don’t assign motives to me,” He shot back. “I have solved crimes dozens of times. This is just another one for me to unravel. It’s about the mysterious killer known as Genocide Jack.”

Toko suddenly went pale. “G-g-g—”

“Toko, don’t stress yourself out,” Mukuro reassured. “I’m sure he’s just being strange again.”

“D-don’t call m-master strange!” She protested. “E-everything he does i-is f-for a good reason!”

“Whatever,” Ruruka butted in. “Anyway, Mooky, you’re the person Ruruka wanted to see!” Check out this weird thing she found!” 

It was a brochure, written in a language she didn’t understand.

“Oh man, I wish I had my language notes on hand…” Ryoko said. “It would be a lot easier…I’ll write down a note to bring them with me the next time I come here.”

She started doing exactly that. Mukuro peered at it. It had a picture of Jabberwock Island on it—presumably it was a brochure. 

“I don’t really see anything special about it,” she said after a minute.”

“Look inside! Ruruka found some really weird pictures!”

Sakura glanced over Mukuro’s shoulder as she opened it.

“That’s odd,” She remarked. “Why aren’t there any bridges on the map? Is this an old flyer?”

“No, it’s definitely brand new,” Ryoko said. “Even if it was preserved and stuff, there’d be a little wear on it. Maybe there’s some information in the text, but who…”

They all glanced over to Byakuya.

“Yeah, no,” Said Ruruka. They shuffled back over to the table where Kizakura and Taka were.

Monomi had appeared while the four of them were away, and she was now harassing Taka about his notes.

“But what about the pink pens! Not using them would be such a waste!”

“I told you, those are for proofreading! I’m still at the first draft stage!” Taka argued. “And they’re red pens, not pink!”

“Don’t act like a teacher,” Mukuro remarked.

“Hey! I am a teacher!” Monomi protested.

“No, you’re a nuisance,” Kizakura replied. “And you’re probably working with the mastermind to boot. Why don’t you come clean and tell us what’s going on already?”

“But did Monokuma not say earlier that she went against his will to defeat the monobeast?” Sakura asked.

“I’m not buying that excuse,” He replied. Plus, I have a feeling that Monokuma isn’t the actual mastermind. There’s someone else behind this, no doubt.”

“I mean, I get what you’re saying…” Ryoko responded thoughtfully. “I’ve been going over a few of my notes about her since this morning and a lot of my analysis leads to the idea of them both working for  _ someone.  _ I just don’t think it’s the same person.”

“Wait, so there could be multiple masterminds? That complicates things…”

“And they could be in direct conflict with each other, no less,” Sakura mused, crossing her arms. “We are just caught in the middle of this. A proxy war, you could say.”

“So even if we defeat one of them, there would just be another?! That’s terrible!” Taka wailed.

“Taka, no shouting,” Kizakura reprimanded.

“Waah, you’re so mean…” Monomi sniffled.

“Usami, Ruruka appreciates you, but we have some stuff to do, okay?”

“Okay!” Monomi said, cheerful again. “I’m so happy! I’ll check up on you all later!” And with that, she disappeared.

“Back to the subject at hand,” Sakura remarked. “Can either of you translate this document?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s in English, but I’m not that great at it,” Mukuro admitted. “I was never really stationed in English speaking countries. Can anyone else understand it?”

“I can read and speak English fluently,” Kizakura said. “Here, let me read it over and translate.”

He scanned it over once, twice, and then put it down, visibly confused.

“It says that Jabberwock Island is an archipelago of seven islands, with one island in the center,” He began.

“That seems normal,” Ryoko said.

“That’s where it gets weird,” He said. “It says that the islands are connected by ferry service, not bridges. They were proposed, but not implemented due to environmental concerns. It also says that the center island doesn’t have a park, but an administrative building. What’s more, it’s dated…a year and a half from now?!”

“That does it! Ruruka’s definitely not supposed to be on this island! What’s going on?!”

“Could it be that this island is artificial?” Sakura asked.

“My, my…you’re very intuitive to assume that this is an artificial island!” Said Monokuma appearing out of thin air.

“Now  _ you’re _ here?!” Mukuro cried.

“However,  _ those guys _ are the only people who could’ve pulled something off of that scale!” He added, completely ignoring her.

“Th-those g-guys…?” Toko whimpered, peering out from a nearby bookshelf.

_ When did she come over here? Oh wait, there’s Byakuya. _

“Oh, you know…that super powerful organization that controls the world! You know about it, right?”

“I know that there is a top secret council,” Byakuya remarked, “But there is no way they could create an artificial island like this, even if they wanted to. To create the sort of terrain and foliage on this is physically impossible.”

Monokuma blew a raspberry at him. “Pbbbft! They absolutely can! Whatever lame ‘secret council’ you’re talking about has nothing on these guys! They’re on a whole other level!”

“Wh-what? How can you know something I don’t know?!”

“Honestly, it’s true that those guys are truly evil…” He sighed.

“What are you talking about?” Ryoko asked.

“Oopsie poopsie! That was close! A slip of the tongue! I better get outta here!”

“Hey! Don’t leave! Ruruka isn't done with you yet!” She shouted. Unfortunately, he had already disappeared.

“As obnoxious as usual,” Mukuro sighed, rubbing her temple. “And leaving us with more questions than answers.”

“Indeed,” Sakura agreed.

-

After leaving Hina’s group behind, Chiaki decided to look around the other areas of the island. Mondo loudly proclaimed he would follow her to keep her safe. She didn’t really have the energy to protest. Plus, he wasn’t very talkative, so at least he wouldn’t try to distract her.

“Oh, a beach,” She said, more to herself than to Mondo. “It looks pretty…”

“Ey, there’s that goth chick,” Mondo noticed as they approached. Celeste was reclining in a beach chair wearing a slightly more casual—at least by her standards—dress. A large black umbrella provided her ample shade.

“Good morning Chiaki, and… _ Mondo,” _ She remarked, her face quickly turning into a sneer at the sight of him.

“Nice to see you too,” He snarked.

“Hey hey…what are you doing here, Celeste?”

“Well, I  _ was _ being fawned upon by my servant…until his idiot companion came along and snatched him away. Now I lie in wait, so when they return, I shall annihilate them both.

_ Poor Ryota and Hifumi. _

“I think I’m gonna hang around and tan for a while,” Mondo said. “If you don’t mind.”

“You are an annoyance.”

“Wasn’t talking to you.”

“I think it’s fine…I’m gonna look at that building over there.”

“Alright, see you later!”

Over by the building, she saw Ryota and Hifumi enter. She followed them.

“Wow! A beach house!” Ryota exclaimed.

“Maybe we could drag a tv here and everyone can have an anime marathon!” Hifumi suggested cheerfully. “Oh, hi there, Miss Nanami!”

“Hey hey. You guys are looking around in here?”

“Yeah!” Ryota responded. “This place is really nice! It’s got drinks and everything.

“Only thing missing is a changing room,” Chiaki said. “Then I could swim here and not have to worry about walking back in wet clothes.”

“I wonder why there isn’t one?” Ryota said.

“That’s absolutely forbidden!” Monomi said, appearing out of nowhere. Ryota and Hifumi both screamed.

“Monomi, what are you doing here?”

“I’m making sure you know the rules! There’s absolutely no changing allowed! That way there’s no chance of perverts peeking!”

“Do you really have that little faith in us?!” Hifumi shrieked.

“Didn’t you say something about looking at 3D women so you could make your figurines, though?” Ryota asked.

“Who’s peeping?!” Monokuma screamed, busting in with a machine gun. “I’ll turn them into Swiss cheese!”

Now it was Chiaki’s turn to scream. “What are you doing with that thing?!” She cried.

“Punishing students, of course! Now who is it?! Who’s the guilty party?!”

“Nobody!” Hifumi shouted. “We would never do such a thing!”

“Aww, I really wanna shoot something…but I’m not allowed to unless someone breaks the rules! Hey kids, live a little! Strip down!”

“A-absolutely not!” Ryota shrieked.

_ I wouldn’t do that even if it  _ wasn’t _ against the rules… _

“Hey hey! I won’t let you threaten my students!” Monomi shouted. In response, he kicked her, sending her barreling out the door.

“Th-this is bad…!” Ryota stammered. “How one earth was she able to defeat the monobeast, but not Monokuma?”

“Hmph! That’s for me to find out, and for you to also find out!” Monokuma shouted, then disappeared again.

The three of them simply stared at each other for a little bit.

“That was…odd,” Chiaki piped up.

“Yeah, let’s just pretend that didn’t happen,” Ryota said.

“Agreed,” Hifumi nodded. “Right now, we need to figure out a plan to escape Miss Lundenberg’s clutches!”

“I’ll, uh, leave you to do that, then,” Chiaki said as she walked out.

_ Ryota…Hifumi…good luck. _

-

Everyone gathered back at the restaurant to discuss what they had seen. Sayaka began bringing out lunch, but when she saw Leon she bolted, leaving Munakata to put it out all alone. Chiaki decided to come help him.

“Is Sayaka okay?” She asked.

“She’s not,” he replied. “I’ll bring her up to speed later. Don’t worry about it.

“Okay…”

By the end of the hour, as people began to bring their dishes in and Sayaka started running the water to the sinks, everyone had learned about the various parts of the island…with the exception of one. There was a towering building covered in ruins, that none of them had dared to approach.

“I wonder what could be in there,” Celeste said. “It gives off such a menacing aura…”

“You’re sounding an awful lot like a certain deceased clairvoyant,” Ryota mumbled.

“Buddy! That’s not funny!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t—”

Before he could finish, the monitors flickered on, and everyone collectively groaned.

“Ahem! Hope’s Peak Academy’s School Trip Executive Committee has an announcement to make! Monomi is a b—wait, wrong script. Anyway, please gather at the ancient ruins located on the second island. I am providing a special lecture for you curious learners!”

“Not this again,” Hina moaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for more confusion! And hopefully more focus on Sayaka. I feel bad for neglecting her this chapter...  
> Anyway, here’s the fanart! First up we’ve got [a more detailed remnant Ryota,](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/jev8zw/remnant_of_despair_ryota_mitarai_with_more_detail/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) [remnant Kizakura,](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/jfl64a/by_the_power_of_the_same_shitty_tracing_that/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) [remnant Toko,](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/jpunhr/the_latest_entry_in_my_shitty_tracing_series/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and [pixel sprites of all three plus Future Foundation Kazuichi, Nekomaru, Gundham and Akane!](https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/comments/jp5tn5/sprite_edits_based_on_my_alternate_universe_link/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)  
> I plan on doing the three I haven’t drawn next. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be out soon! Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma’s forced gathering leads to more questions than answers; Meanwhile, Kizakura and Munakata work to resolve long-standing problems before they get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGHHHHHH this chapter got away from me. I feel like it’s really not up to snuff with the previous ones but I just wanted to be DONE with it.

Everyone begrudgingly made their way to the large, ominous building at Monokuma’s request. However, the obnoxious animatronic bear was nowhere to be found.

“How many times is he gonna keep doing this?” Ryota complained. “Pal and I were gonna go take out the rest of the trash!”

“Except for the haunted trash can,” Hifumi added.

“The haunted…trash can?” Chiaki asked, confused.

“Yeah!” Ryota replied. “The one where Hiro’s jacket got thrown away! When we went there, it was gone! None of the other trash cans got emptied like that!”

“It’s so scary…” Hifumi whimpered.

Leon rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you actually believe that crap. Monokuma probably got rid of it since it was evidence.”

“No, they’re right!” Hina added. “Last night I was out on a walk, and it had fallen on its side! And it was crushed, too! There were weird noises, too…that thing weighs a ton!”

“Miss Asahina is right, I saw that too! And the next day buddy said it was perfectly intact like nothing had happened!”

“Perhaps it contains Hiro’s ghost,” Byakuya said, amused.

“Don’t encourage them,” Munakata scolded. “More importantly…just what is this ruin? There wasn’t any mention of it in the brochures I saw…not even in the strange one from the library.”

“Exactly!” Taka said. “Something as grand as this would attract historians and archaeologists from across the globe! And yet, it remains completely untouched!”

“It must be hundreds of years old, at least,” Sakura said. “Possibly even a thousand. The massive overgrowth is probably what has kept the building from collapsing entirely.”

“Still, something seems…off,” Hina said. “Doesn’t it feel kind of…modern?”

“That’s exactly it!” Ryoko agreed. “The plants alone don’t explain its structural integrity! It has to be built with rebar!”

“Rebar, huh…” Byakuya mused. “And the way it’s built makes it look like…”

“Like Hope’s Peak’s school building,” Kizakura finished. Byakuya shot him an annoyed glare.

“Wait, what the hell?!” Leon yelled. “What’s the Hope’s Peak’s school building doing here?!”

“There’s no way! Ruruka would be old and wrinkly by then!”

“This makes no sense,” Munakata said. “It can’t be the original, plus it’s covered in plants…this has to be fake. But how?”

“If it’s fake, it’s very convincing,” Mukuro said. “Those plants are a hundred percent real. I went to Koh Ker once, and the overgrowth looks nearly identical.”

“I’ve never seen plants like this, though…” Ryoko said. “It’s like a cross between a palm tree and a vine…except it’s gigantic!”

Chiaki touched her chin, thoughtfully. She looked over the building.

“Hey hey,” She said, “Don’t you think there’s something…weird about this building?”

“You mean besides the whole ‘impossibly ancient ruin’ thing?” Ryoko asked.

“Yeah,”She said. “It’s like it doesn’t belong with a building like this…I keep thinking about it and it feels unnatural. It’s like if a comic about baseball suddenly became a side-scrolling action game…”

“It’d be an improvement, in my opinion,” Leon grumbled. “I always hated those. They’re never accurate!”

“What are you talking about?” Mukuro asked.

Chiaki pointed at the building.

“Do you see that door over there?”

Mukuro glanced over and saw it. It was a massive vault door, with Gatling guns and video cameras attached to it. It was caked with a thick layer of dust and dirt.

“What the hell…?” Mondo said, astonished. “Wait, how the fuck is that even possible?! If it ain’t fake, then how the fuck did that stuff get all rusty so fast?!”

“Oh god, what if…we were put into cold sleep?” Ryota gasped. “That would be so horrible!”

Chiaki cocked her head to the side. “If that’s the case, I wonder how all my games were kept so new…aside from the regular wear and tear, I mean. Plus then I’d have missed out on a ton of new releases…”

“And I suspect that even if such technology existed, it would not have been able to preserve our muscle mass,” Sakura noted.

“Hehe…th-that means there’s n-nothing that can s-stop me from marrying M-master…”

“Stop talking,” Byakuya commanded. “We’re getting off topic. First of all, that door looks significantly newer than the building itself. And the layer of dust and debris on it is thin enough that we can make out some of the markings on it.”

“Not well, though,” Mondo said, cracking his knuckles. “Step aside! I’m gonna punch this goddamn door in!”

“Mondo, don’t!” Chiaki cried.

_ “Hi-yah!” _

His fist collided with the door, causing a low clang. He immediately recoiled, clenching his fist and shouting every obscenity Mukuro had ever heard and several she hadn’t. As Munakata rushed to his side, Mukuro took the opportunity to step up to the door and look it over.

“Some of the dust got knocked off,” Ryoko said, walking up next to her. “It’ll be a lot easier to clear the rest of it off now. Good job, Mondo!”

Mondo was too busy with his hurt fist to care. Taka walked up to the two of them.

“There’s something written on here, don’t you think? If you don’t mind me, I’ll take it off and we can see what it says.”

The three of them worked together to pull off the vines. Taka produced a handkerchief to wipe off their hands.

“Let’s see what’s written on here…” Mukuro said. “It says…future? And there’s a working LCD display on it!”

“Okay, so that definitely means this is new, or at least newer than the rest of the ruin…” Ryoko said. “I’ve seen that sort of LCD before. It’d stop functioning after about twenty years. And the keypad…”

She blew on it lightly to clear off the dust, and started coughing immediately. Mukuro and Taka jumped as the guns above their head twitched.

“See? There’s some dust on it, but the numbers haven't faded at all! Or at least they all faded equally. This door probably hasn’t even been used!”

“I still wouldn’t touch it again, though,” Taka said as he eyed the guns.

“There is no doubt in my mind that this is a place of great importance,” Sakura said from a few feet away. Several others had started coming over to the door after seeing the five of them approach it.

“Yeah, I agree,” Said Ryoko as she scribbled in a notebook. “But how so? There’s obviously something important hidden in it, but…”

“Um…” Monomi said, appearing out of nowhere.

“Yay! Ruruka’s friend Usami is here!” She shouted.

“Hmm…” Monokuma hummed, also appearing out of nowhere.

“Oh no! Ruruka’s archenemy Monocrap is here!”

“What did you just call me?!” He yelled, showing his claws.

“Whatever,” Byakuya waved his hand dismissively. “Just hurry up and tell us what this building is supposed to mean.”

Monokuma and Monomi both remained silent.

“They’re being quiet?” Hina said.

“Actually, I don’t know…” Monomi whimpered.

“Me neither,” Said Monokuma.

“That's a load of crap!” Leon yelled. “You can’t just drag us out here for nothing! That’s stupid, even for you!”

“Yeah!” Hina added. “Just tell us what’s behind that door!”

“Hmm…several possibilities come across my mind. But I guess we won’t be able to know for now! Even though Monomi and I can freely roam around, we can’t enter the door!”

“Wh-what?! You can’t enter it either?! Then maybe—”

“Quiet, you!” He shouted before unleashing a flurry of punches.

“Kyaaaa! My body can’t handle a supersonic meteor rush like that!”

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, I’ll tell you all why you’re here! This…is the secret of Jabberwock Island! A mystery even Monomi and I can’t solve.”

“So you two are working together after all?” Sakura asked.

“Hey! Don’t be mean to Usami!” Ruruka shouted.

“That’s why, I have high expectations for you all! I know you’ll figure it out someday!”

“A mystery?” Kizakura asked. “Are you saying that this could be the key to our escape?”

“More importantly, who’s behind all this?” Mukuro asked.

“Hmm…The only possible organization that could have done this…is the Future Foundation! They’re the ones behind your stay on this island!”

“What do you know about this so-called “Future Foundation”?!” Munakata shouted. “Speak up!”

“Hmm…nope! I got almost nothing!”

“‘Almost’ nothing is still something!” Leon shouted. Monokuma disappeared.

“Well, that was pointless,” Byakuya said. For once, Mukuro agreed with him.

“I’m going back…” Sayaka mumbled and slinked away. Kizakura and Munakata exchanged looks, and Mukuro watched him follow her. Meanwhile Kizakura went to follow Byakuya, who had just finished shooing Toko away. Taka and Ryota managed to drag her back to the supermarket, despite her loud protests.

Mukuro watched for a moment, then turned and walked away.

-

Once the group had dispersed, Munakata followed Sayaka on her way back to the hotel. She was being alienated, and it was clearly making her upset. Kizakura apparently had some business with Byakuya—hopefully apologizing for threatening him—so it was up to him to make sure she was okay.

As soon as she caught sight of him, she tensed up.

“M-Mr. Munakata…?”

“How are you doing?” He asked gently. She’d been quiet all morning, but now she looked downright shaken.

“Um, okay…” She replied unconvincingly. She clutched her arms and averted her eyes.

“Are you sure?” He gently prodded. “I know you were a bit down this morning, but…something seems to have changed.”

“I’m— _ fine,” _ She insisted, her voice breaking at the second word. “I’m…”

“Yes?”

It was a tense several seconds before she added, “I’m okay with…this.”

Munakata frowned. “Do you mean the way others have been treating you?”

Her shoulders relaxed a little. “I mean, I’m supposed to be loved by everyone, right? But I failed, so…I guess being hated by everyone is the next best thing?” She gave a fake smile.

Dear god, he didn’t even know where to  _ begin _ with all the problems in that sentence.

“Everyone doesn’t hate you,” He replied carefully.

“But none of them have tried coming to me either…except Mukuro and Ryoko, and they don’t count!”

“Why not?”

“Because…because they’re just looking out for themselves, that’s why!”

That was probably coming from the cutthroat attitudes in the idol industry. That mindset would probably take years to undo, but luckily he could probably address the immediate issue.

“Sayaka,” He said, “Do you remember the class trial?”

She’d been making eye contact with him for a while now, but broke it. “I wish I didn’t.”

“Then do you remember how people found out about that whole thing with Leon in the first place?”

“…yes…”

He took a breath. “Mukuro was keeping you safe even though it put suspicion on herself. That’s not the sort of thing she’d do if she was ‘In it for herself’. She wanted to help you and Leon both. And there are others, too. People have been talking to you a little bit more, right?”

“Yeah…” She replied. He noted that she looked a  _ little  _ less upset now.

“So what’s wrong?”

This was it. At least he hoped it was. Maybe if he could get to the heart of this issue, he could put more effort into actually helping her.

“The others…they still hate me,” She said. “And Leon…”

Ah. So that was it. He stepped forward.

“Sayaka, I think the others need a little more time. Leon’s spooked pretty bad, himself. And not just by you. I’ll find a way to get more of the others to open up to you.”

“…okay,” She replied hesitantly.

-

Leon stood in the shadows of his cottage, Listening in on Sayaka and Munakata’s conversation. 

Was she really that guilty?

Maybe…she was just as scared of dying as him.

Should he stop avoiding her? Having gained new insight, he decided to go back on his way. There were still chores to do, and those eggs wouldn’t collect themselves.

-

Kizakura managed to catch up with Byakuya after a few minutes of brisk walking. The kid seemed determined to avoid him, but once they both made it over to the library, Byakuya turned around and glared at him expectantly.

“What do you want?” He spat.

“You look troubled,” Kizakura remarked.

“Go away.”

“No.”

Byakuya massaged his temple. He was clearly irritated by something more than just the strange ruins. “I doubt whatever nonsense nonsense you’re going to spout will be of any use to me. I have better things to do.”

“Will you hear me out, please?” Kizakura replied exasperatedly. “I’m not here for no good reason. I’m here to  _ apologize.” _

That caught Byakuya’s attention. “Oh?”

Kizakura sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, listen, I…I screwed up. I shouldn’t have threatened to hurt you like that. So…I’m sorry.” He reached for his flask, only to make an annoyed face when he realized he hadn’t brought it with him. Byakuya folded his arms.

“And what brought  _ this  _ sudden change of heart on? Weren’t you angry with me?”

He still was, though he seriously doubted Byakuya would ever apologize. But it wasn’t an issue worth delving into. “Not enough to keep me from doing my job.”

“You didn’t say you  _ weren’t  _ angry with me, though.” Kizakura sighed again.

“Listen, I am upset. What you implied about me being willing to kill Kyoko, well…” He shook his head. “It still doesn’t excuse what I said.”

“And I suppose you’re waiting for me to apologize?”

There was an awkward pause. “Wait, what? No.”

“Fine,” Byakuya said, seemingly ignoring him. “In the name of the Togami family I…apologize.”

Kizakura snorted.

“Now wipe that ess-eating grin off your face!”

-

“But Ruruka doesn’t wannaaaaaa! Lil’ Saya might try again!”

“She won’t,” He said, folding his arms. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on her. And besides that, if a murder happened  _ now, _ everyone would consider her the prime suspect.”

He’d deduced that of all the people that would have ideas to bring others together, Ruruka would probably be the best candidate. He’d initially approached Hina, who had said something about a donut-eating competition, and while he decided that probably wouldn’t be the best idea, it  _ did  _ push him in the right direction.

“Exactly! You’re trying to get Ruruka to let her guard down!”

“That’s not—” He rubbed his temple. “Ruruka, I’m not worried about her becoming a culprit. I’m worried she’ll become a  _ victim. _ Everyone’s suspicious of each other right now. By getting to know each other we’re building up more trust—singling one person out of that damages that bond. Do you understand?”

Ruruka pouted. “Fine! But only the girls are allowed! Those stinky boys will ruin Ruruka’s perfect cooking!”

“So you’re saying you want some sort of baking group? I guess that’ll work…”

“Pbbbbt!” Ruruka childishly blew a raspberry at him. “Of course it will! Ruruka’s the smartest person in this dingdong island! And if anyone says Ruruka  _ isn’t  _ right…” She got a sadistic gleam in her eyes. 

Munakata inwardly groaned. Now he’d done it.

-

As the afternoon turned to evening, people started filtering into the dining hall. Leon was among them. He was one of the last not because his chores were so exhausting—though they were—but because he spent a lot of time thinking over what he was gonna say. To Sayaka. “I’m still mad at you for trying to murder me but let’s put our differences behind us and promise not to kill each other” was his initial thought, but unlike most of the time, he actually took the time to realize it wasn’t necessarily the best approach to things.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t come up with any  _ other _ way to approach her, so this would have to do.

As he approached the dining area, he saw that everyone else had started eating, even Sayaka, who was all by her lonesome.

She was half asleep and picking at her plate when he came closer.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, hey.”

Sayaka jolted awake, dropping her utensils. “Huh?! Oh—” Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

“…Yeah. I just…” All the words he had practiced flew out the window. “No hard feelings, I guess…?”

Sayaka looked surprised, in a good way. 

“Um, okay,” She replied. “I’m glad…”

“Y-yeah!” He said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Hold on, I’m gonna grab some food, and then…we can talk about this a little more, okay?”

“Sure…” She hesitantly smiled.

He turned away, hiding a grin. It felt like a weight had been lifted. He knew it probably wouldn’t last…but at least this problem was getting resolved, now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go! I’m not too satisfied with the way this chapter ended, but adding another scene would’ve dragged it on even further. I’m gonna plot more of the story out, and then, of course, the murder! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!


	14. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group becomes closer than ever, but there’s something ominous brewing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hey Lycoris, why have you gone almost three weeks without an update?”  
> Well you see, I am a big poopy idiot, that’s why. Here’s the long overdue next chapter!

Mukuro stirred awake at the sound of Ryoko’s whimpering. She shot up in her bed instinctively and turned to see what was wrong.

Ryoko was clutching the Monokuma plushie they’d found in their room, shaking and grimacing in her sleep.

_ A nightmare…? _

That hit close to home. She’d been blessed to not have had any since she came to Jabberwock, but many nights she had been plagued with dreams of her past, of all the horrible,  _ horrible _ things she’d done just to  _ survive— _

“Ryoko.”

She had moved over and gently pushed the other girl’s shoulder to wake her. She awoke with a quiet gasp.

“Mukuro…?”

Her face softened. “Hey. You were having a nightmare, so uh…” She cleared her throat, “I figured I should wake you up.”

“Thanks…” Ryoko replied sleepily. “I don’t…wanna talk about it…”

“That’s fine,” She said, “Just as long as you know I’m here.”

Ryoko smiled at her, and it lit up her world.

-

Chiaki felt lighter than usual. It seemed that the anxiety that had been looming over everyone was finally starting to dissipate. Mr. Munakata was reassigning chores, so she wanted to get in early. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as random as last week…that had been a disaster.

_ Last week. _ How could such a crazy chain of events occur in such a short timespan? It felt unreal.

“Good morning, Chiaki!” Sayaka greeted as she stepped out of her cottage.

“Hey hey,” She replied. “You look a lot better…I’m glad.”

“Yeah! I talked with Leon and…well, it’s better. I’ll try and earn everyone’s trust back.”

Chiaki smiled at her. “I think you’re trustworthy.”

“Yeah…” She murmured wistfully. After a second she snapped back to attention. “Hey, do you wanna go up to the restaurant together?”

“Sure.”

-

They walked in to see Mondo and Taka at opposite sides of a table glaring daggers at each other. Chiaki quietly groaned.  _ Not this again… _

“Yo, Chiaki,” Mondo said, giving her a casual wave.

“I don’t recall you and Chiaki being so close!” Taka spat. “What is a hoodlum like you doing trying to drag an innocent girl like her down?!”

“Don’t bring me into this!” Chiaki snapped. She’d had enough stupid rivalries for one lifetime. At least they both had the decency to look sheepish.

“Regardless!” Taka shouted. “My point still stands! You are absolutely a hoodlum! Speeding down the roads with no helmet, breaking the island rules even at the risk of execution…have you no self preservation?”

“Fuck you, asshole!” Mondo snapped back, rising to his feet. “What’s your problem, huh?! Pull that stick out of your ass!”

Taka got up next. “How dare you! Respect for authority and rules is the only way to happiness!”

It seemed that Taka had hit a nerve, and he pulled his arm back for a punch. Before it hit, however, Munakata swiftly moved between them, catching Mondo’s fist with one hand and shoving Taka backwards with the other.

“Absolutely  _ no _ fighting!” He shouted. “This is ridiculous! You’re behaving like children!”

“Can’t you two find any way to resolve this  _ without _ violence?” Kizakura complained. “Like a sauna contest or whatever?”

“An excellent idea!” Taka yelled. “The battle shall begin at eight o’clock sharp!”

“Bring it on,” Mondo said, cracking his knuckles. “Old man, I expect you to oversee this shit.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

“You’re the one who suggested it!” Taka pointed out.

“Whatever!” Ruruka shouted. “Ruruka has a very special announcement to make!”

Everyone shifted their attention from the fight to her.

“After those boring dumb annoying stupid chores, Ruruka is holding a very special treat-making party!”

“That sounds nice,” Ryota noted.

“And no boys allowed!” She shrieked. “Girls only! And they absolutely have to come, or Ruruka will get super mad!”

“Wait, what? Why can’t we go?!” He cried.

“Because your stinky otaku self will ruin the bond!” She yelled back. “Anyway! See you guys there~!”

Everyone watched her dramatically prance out the door with confusion.

“…I’ll go get her later,” Munakata said.

-

“I can’t believe that Ruruka went out of her way to exclude us…” Ryota grumbled.

“And after allowing me to make treats with her before!” Hifumi agreed. “How cruel! I had so much fun! Even if she  _ was _ a bit domineering…”

“That seems to be your type,” Ryota teased.

“Ack! Buddy, how could you say such a thing?!”

“Can you two please focus?” Hina complained.

The three of them were together on farm duty, which only Hina seemed to be taking seriously.

“But it’s not  _ fair,” _ Ryota whined, dumping a bucket of slop into the pig’s manger. “They kept talking about bonds and stuff, but how are we supposed to do that when half the cast is missing?!”

“Then come up with your own activity,” She suggested. 

“Buddy and I tried,” Hifumi said, “But hardly anyone was interested! Taka and Mondo were too busy giving off bad auras, Byakuya had walked out, Leon refused…Only Mr. Munakata and Mr. Kizakura looked interested! This is terrible!”

“What were you two even suggesting?”

“An anime marathon, what else?” Ryota said. “I don’t get why people didn’t like it…”

Hina sighed. “You guys…I don’t think everyone likes that kinda stuff. Can’t you come up with anything else?”

“No…” Ryota mumbled, wilting.

“We’re trying our best!” Hifumi replied. “It’s not our fault everyone else is so different from us! What the heck are we supposed to do?”

Hina pouted. “I guess you have a point…” She said. “Plus the other guys aren’t coming up with anything…”

“Exactly! We need your help, Miss Asahina!”

“Hmm…” She took a minute to think. Donuts, donuts…no, not everything was about donuts. What else was there to do on a tropical island? She could almost taste it…

“Um, sorry…I can’t think of anything.”

“Man, this stinks…” Ryota said.

-

Mukuro and Ryoko arrived at the kitchen just after lunch. By the time they had both put on their aprons, Toko was just being dragged in by Sakura.

“Yay! Toko came!”

“Not willingly, y-you empty brained f-fake! And w-what is that  _ snake _ doing here?!”

Sayaka glanced away, nervously. “I just…”

“Mr. Munakata said Ruruka should invite her! That way we can all trust each other! Nothing brings people together like treats!” She said. “Plus with big, scary Sakura here, she definitely can’t do anything bad! That’s why  _ all _ the girls are here!”

“Even Monomi?” Hina pointed to the little rabbit, whose ears barely poked above the counter.

“Well, judging by what we have learned, she isn’t working for Monokuma…the enemy of our enemy is our friend, after all.” Celeste said. “And she is…well…”

Ruruka folded her arms. “No bullying Usami!”

“I think I agree with you,” Chiaki spoke up. “Maybe we’ve been a little too harsh on her.”

“Well!” Ruruka shouted, clapping her hands together. “Ruruka is going to teach you all how to make amaaaazing treats! All you have to do is follow  _ exactly as Ruruka tells you!” _

Ryoko grinned from ear to ear and pulled out a notebook. 

“This is gonna be amazing!” She said to Mukuro.

Mukuro really hoped she was right, otherwise she would go insane.

-

The whole process went surprisingly well, despite Ruruka’s bossiness.

“No, you have to pipe it  _ this _ way!” She demanded. 

“L-leave me alone!” Shouted Toko, who was making a giant cookie with Byakuya’s face on it.

“Wow, Sakura, yours looks really great!” Hina complimented. Sakura smiled and blushed lightly.

“Thank you, Hina,” She replied.

Mukuro was putting the finishing touches on her set of petit fours.

“This is…nice, actually,” She said.

“Yeaf! Iffsh reari defifus!” Ryoko replied as she stuffed another cream puff into her mouth.

“It looks like this is all done,” Chiaki said. “There’s so many…what are we gonna do with them all?”

“Mr. Kizakura said we should serve them for dessert tonight!” Ruruka said. As if on cue, he and Munakata walked in.

“Hey, everyone,” He greeted. “You got any chocolates with liqueur fillings?”

Munakata rolled his eyes. “It’s always about alcohol with you,” he snarked.

“No way! Ruruka is underage! Ruruka can’t use alcohol or she would get in big trouble!”

“Aww, but if we’re missing a couple years, maybe you really can handle them.”

“Koichi,” Munakata warned.

“Fine, I was just teasing, yeesh…thank god Taka isn’t here or he’d roast me alive. Keep this exchange a secret, okay?”

“Okaaaaaay!” Ruruka said.

“I already forgot what happened! What were we talking about again?” Ryoko asked.

“This was soooooo much fun!” Ruruka said, steering the conversation. “Ruruka wants to do more stuff like this!”

“Yeah…” Chiaki mumbled. 

“Hmm…Ryota and Hifumi were talking about wanting to do something involving the guys…” Hina pondered. “I wonder…”

“Whatever you come up with, let us know,” Munakata said as he and Kizakura turned to leave. “It’ll make it easier to plan.”

“Bye-bye!” Ruruka said as the two walked away. “Anyway, it’s cleanup time!  _ All of you have to participate!” _

-

As Chiaki and a begrudging Toko washed the dishes together, she decided to try and strike up a conversation.

“Toko—”

“Stop it! You’re j-just going to b-bully me!”

“I’m not!” She pleaded. “I just wanted to talk to you! Why do you have to assume stuff?!”

Toko flinched. Multiple expressions flashed on her face, from anxiety to anger to frustration to resignation. She seemed to settle on that. “F-fine…I d-don’t c-care…”

Chiaki felt frustrated, but decided to continue anyway. “I was going to say, that…back then, when I complimented your writing, I was being sincere…I could really feel your passion in it…and I saw it again when you were making that effigy of Byakuya.”

Toko blushed and grinned. “Hehe…anything for my master…”

“Um, right. Your master. You like him a lot, don’t you?”

“O-of course!” She shouted. “M-master says he doesn’t like me, and th-that he wants m-me to leave, a-and th-that I’m smelly and r-rotten, b-but I’m sure that he j-just w-wants me to try harder!”

Chiaki was horrified. What on earth had happened to her that made her think that way? But she also knew that trying to counter that would make things worse.

“Oh, I’m…happy for you, then…”

“Hee…th-thank you…” Toko paused and added, “Y-you’re the first p-person to support me…”

“I’m glad it made you happy,” She replied. “Maybe we’ll have more opportunities in the future.”

“I  _ guess _ w-we could do this again…” Toko muttered. “B-but don’t think this’ll be a regular thing! I s-still don’t trust you! Y-you’re all a bunch of crazy people!”

_ You’re one to talk. _

-

Munakata took a bite of his dessert and contemplated. The baking group had been a smashing success; even Ruruka and Celeste seemed to be on better terms. By stark contrast, the boys seemed to be more upset than ever. He was keeping a close eye on Taka and Mondo, who were still thirty seconds from exchanging blows. Byakuya was still as solitary as ever. Leon, Ryota and Hifumi were doing pretty well, but the former was busy chatting with Sayaka or Sakura and Hina most of the time, while the latter two stuck together. Overall, it was a headache.

“Hey,” Kizakura said, walking over to his table. “You’ve been looking pretty stressed.”

“I am,” He responded. “I’ve been involved in running large groups of people before, but this group is…eccentric. And the situation…”

Kizakura nodded. “Yeah, not the best way for a new teacher to start out. Must be frustrating.”

“Of course it’s frustrating,” Munakata said. “I still haven’t figured out a way to unite the guys the way the girls have. They’re all far too different from each other.”

“Forgive me for interrupting, Mr. Munakata! However, I couldn’t help but notice you were troubled, and it concerned me!”

“Huh? Where’d you come from?” Kizakura asked.

Ah. There was Taka, as worryingly obsessive as ever. For whatever reason, the kid had become attached to him, or at least the idea of him, and very antagonistic to Kizakura.

“Taka, it’s rude to eavesdrop,” He scolded. “And Kizakura is right. Why  _ are _ you here?”

“I was simply going to fetch Mr. Kizakura to oversee the sauna battle!”

“Oh, right…” Kizakura rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m coming. See you later, Munakata.”

He watched as the two of them walked off. It was a welcome respite from being the target of Taka’s attention. Hopefully this would make him respect the other teacher a bit more.

-

“Good night~!”

Monokuma’s obnoxious voice rang out on the monitor near Kizakura. He had long since folded up Mondo’s coat and put it on the ground—he nearly went into the sauna with it, until Kizakura pointed out it would probably break his e-handbook. He’d been staring at the swimming pool nearby, watching the reflection of the sky in the water. Now his attention was back on the sauna, and he figured it was time to pack up for the night. He knocked on the door.

“Hey, you two, the nighttime announcement just went off. Can’t you call it a tie and finish it up tomorrow?”

“In a…true competition, there’s no such thing as a tie!” Taka wheezed. “You win, or you lose. That’s…the only thing that matters.”

“Listen to you…you son of a bitch...! Bring it on…I’ll…I’ll…push you right up to the gates of hell!”

“Uh, guys…” Kizakura looked down at his watch. “You’ve been sitting in there for two hours. You’re gonna die.”

“We’ll tell you…who won in the morning...” Taka panted.

“You heard him…get lost…!”

“Fine!” Kizakura threw up his hands. “If you two die of heat stroke, don’t come crying to me!”

He turned on his heel and strolled away, rolling his eyes.

-

Chiaki strolled into the restaurant feeling cheerful. She was still riding off the compliments she’d gotten on her Pokémon themed cupcakes. They’d all been devoured, unfortunately, but she knew there were still plenty leftover desserts from yesterday she could have for breakfast.

This good mood was then promptly interrupted by the strangest thing she had ever seen.

Mondo and Taka were both smiling and laughing together, arms slung over each other’s shoulder.

“Hahahaha! Good morning, Chiaki!”

“Yo!”

“Hey hey…” She replied. She was at a loss for words. What the heck had happened? “Um, you two seem…cheerful.”

“Of course!” Taka bellowed. “That is the power of friendship! Bro and I have a special bond!”

“A special bond? Bro?”

“Those two have been like this all morning,” Hina clarified. “I don’t understand…”

“So who won then?” She asked.

“Does it matter?” Taka said. “Win or lose, we’re on a higher plane of understanding!”

“Like newtypes?” Ryota questioned.

“But what about all that talk about winning or losing being the only thing that matters?” Kizakura asked.

“Forget it, forget it, forget it beeeeeam!” Taka shouted while strangely gesticulating.

“Nice one, bro!”

“Ruruka still doesn’t understand!” She complained. “Even when Ruruka and Celeste beat each other up we weren’t friends afterward at all!”

“Forget about her, bro!” Taka said. “A girl like her doesn’t understand our manly bond!”

“That seems like a fancy way of saying ‘I’m gay’.”

“E-e-e-excuse me?!”

“Don’t worry, Mondo! Taka!” Sayaka said cheerfully. “We all completely support you! Totally...absolutely...” She added as she started to blush and drool.

“Uh, I think we’re getting a little too personal, you guys,” Leon said as he gave Sayaka a worried glance.

“Leon is right! You are all just projecting!” Taka practically screamed. “This is simply the power of close companionship!”

“Tell ‘em, bro!”

“Hey! That’s mean!” Hifumi shouted. “Buddy and I are best friends too!”

“Whatever, dude…” Mondo replied dismissively. 

“And I bet you don’t have any close friends either!” Taka cried as he whipped around and pointed at Kizakura.

“What the hell?! Why me?! I wasn’t even part of that conversation!”

“Goooood morning everyone!” Monokuma shouted, appearing out of nowhere. Ryota and Hifumi both screamed. He ignored them. “I couldn’t help but see the good mood, and I decided to come visit  _ you _ instead of the other way around! Aren’t I thoughtful?”

“Shut up Monocrap, no one likes you!”

“Aww, don’t be like that! Can’t a bear come visit his beloved students?”

“Bullshit,” Mondo said. “Cut to the chase. Why’re you  _ really _ here?”

Monokuma struck a dramatic pose.

“It’s time…for the next motive!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma the mood ruiner. Oh how despicable!


	15. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The motive is revealed. Can the group handle it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH. THIS FUCKING CHAPTER. Sorry I went missing for a WHOLE MONTH this is a disgrace. It’s also a really long chapter. Sorry about the hiatus; I promise I’ll get the next chapter up sooner.

Nobody seemed terribly impressed by Monokuma’s declaration. 

“Aw,” He said after a minute, “Such a tough crowd! And I worked really hard on it, too!”

“Just get on with it already,” Kizakura cut in. He remained seated, but it was very clear he was pissed. 

“Puhuhuhu! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! I've got a present for each and every one of you!” He jumped off the table and landed on Leon’s lap. He screeched, and Monokuma slammed an envelope into his face.

“Leon Kuwata, done! Who’s up next?”

“What the heck was that?!” Ryota shouted. 

Leon pulled the envelope away from his head and started to open it, but froze when Monokuma took out his claws and waved them in front of his face.

“Ah-ah-ah! No opening until  _ everyone _ gets theirs!”

The group all hesitantly took the designated envelopes as Monokuma pranced around, handing them out as if they were candy.

“Alrighty then! Everyone ready? Let’s open them all up on the count of three! One…two…three!”

Everyone tore into their letters immediately. Chiaki wasn’t really sure what to expect—this was obviously blackmail, but she couldn’t think of anything that would—

_ Chiaki Nanami once lied about her age in order to enter an international gaming competition. _

Oh.

The minimum age was fifteen. She was twelve. She passed it off as being petite. They let her in. It became the foundation of her reputation as the Ultimate Gamer; it was the way she had been put on the map. Kizakura probably knew, but if anyone else found out…

She could lose her title.

She could lose her scholarship.

She could have to go back to her parents.

Around her, the others were beginning to react.

Byakuya gasped. “How did he…”

Ryota got up and bolted out of the room, crying. Hifumi shoved his letter into his pocket and chased after him. Mondo turned blue, Kizakura covered his eyes with his hat, Sayaka clutched her sides and shuddered violently, and Ryoko just looked…confused.

Munakata was the first to speak up.

“What… _ is… _ this…?” He asked between gritted teeth.

“Doncha just love it? It’s my special patented Monokuma blackmail! I found something in each of your lives you would never want to see the light of day!”

“And obviously, you aren’t just giving it to us as a reminder,” Celeste suggested.

“That’s right! In thirty-six hours, your deepest, darkest secrets will be revealed! Unless you kill, of course. Happy murders! Puhuhuhu!”

With that, he disappeared again.

Byakuya abruptly stood up. “You people are imbeciles. Allowing yourselves to fall for such ridiculous nonsense? Disgusting. I couldn’t stand the lot of you before, but now I know just how cowardly you really are. I’m leaving.”

He moved toward the door closest to the outside stars, and Toko turned to follow him. 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ follow me, insect!” Byakuya shouted, turning red.

“B-but—”

“That is an order!” He stomped out and slammed the door behind him.

“…I was gonna announce a beach party,” Hina said feebly.

-

Munakata, unsurprisingly, still made everyone do chores. Hina had been able to find Hifumi comforting a sobbing Ryota, and gently coaxed him to join her at the ranch. Sakura had managed to drag Toko out literally kicking and screaming while Chiaki trailed behind awkwardly. Almost everyone else had left without much issue, but there was still one person missing: Byakuya. Kizakura, naturally, wound up having to find him.

_ Koichi Kizakura used to do cocaine. _

It was amazing what that damn bear was able to find out. It was supposedly something only Jin Kirigiri knew, from back when they first met as teenagers. He’d been a mess back then; disowned, homeless, and depressed. Jin probably saved his life. He’d sworn to keep it a secret, so how had Monokuma learned? If it came out, his reputation would be ruined. At least he had  _ some _ job security, as he’d been openly alcoholic for years and managed to not get fired. Maybe he’d just be relegated to scouting, or demoted. He could rely on Jin.

But then again, the steering committee never really cared about the faculty, did it? They always went behind his and Jin’s backs—it would be easy to force him to give up his position. They favored talents over everything else—even deadly ones. He suspected that Mukuro was forced through by them too.

Of course, he couldn’t really be mad about that, at least not with someone like her. Mukuro was a good kid; she clearly used her abilities to protect others, not hurt them. If anything, he was more concerned with the fact that she’d become a soldier at _ all. _ Children do not just wake up one day and join the military. She’d obviously been misled at best or trafficked at worst. If he had gotten the chance to meet her before she was recruited he would’ve picked another talent—maybe Ultimate Markswoman or Bodyguard—that didn’t directly feed into that trauma. There’d been a girl in the class the previous year that was initially going to be recruited as the Ultimate Hitwoman before he intervened and made her title the Ultimate Swordsman. Something like that.

His contemplation ended as the library came into view. Ever since the second island had opened, Byakuya had spent almost all of his free time there. Kizakura hoped that his guess was right.

It was. Byakuya was nestled in the same corner as always, but he had pulled over a table and was flipping through a huge pile of papers.

Kizakura cleared his throat. Byakuya glared at him.

“Get out.”

“No.”

Byakuya scowled. Kizakura continued. “Byakuya, you know you can talk to me, right?”

“Shut up. There’s nothing to discuss.”

“That’s crap and we both know it. You’ve been mean before, but what you did back there was totally out of character. You’re upset.”

Byakuya gnashed his teeth. “I am  _ fine,” _ He lied. “I was simply speaking the truth! You are a bunch of…fools! Falling for such a motive—”

“Is exactly what’s happening right in front of me,” He shot back. “You’ve gone from passively to actively antagonizing people. You’re putting yourself in danger.”

He could see a vein in Byakuya’s temple throb. He was furious, but didn’t say a word. Kizakura gave the boy a few seconds to calm down. Finally, he spoke. “So what if I’m putting myself in danger? It’s part of the game.”

“I thought you wanted to win,” Kizakura replied. “Risk versus reward, and all that.” He took a moment to savor the words before adding, “Byakuya, I  _ know _ you’re more compassionate than this.”

Now Byakuya looked legitimately curious. Amused, even. “Oh?”

Kizakura lightly exhaled. “Byakuya, do you know how I decided to evaluate you for the 78th class?”

He scoffed. “Of course I do. I’m known worldwide. Why wouldn’t you?”

“That’s part of it, yes, but not all of it. Remember when you first met me?”

“Somewhat,” He replied. Kizakura sympathized; his memories of scouting everyone were muddy at best. But he could never forget Byakuya’s behavior that day.

“You were one of the coldest, most stuck-up people I had ever met. I instantly disqualified you.”

“You’re doing a  _ wonderful  _ job,” Byakuya snarked.

“Let me finish,” He said and raised his hands defensively. “As I was saying, I instantly disqualified you. But.”

“But?”

“Your sister, Shinobu. The Ultimate Secretary. She was there, though I doubt you remember.”

Byakuya scoffed. “Of  _ course— _ of course I remember her.”

Kizakura continued. “Anyway, she took me aside and told me about what you did in the Czech Republic. About saving her life. And all about getting Kazuya sent to prison.”

Byakuya suddenly looked away. Kizakura could tell he was deep in thought. “And how is this relevant?”

“Byakuya. I’m saying that you have shown the capacity to save people from danger before. What’s stopping you now?”

Byakuya grimaced. His bangs covered his eyes.

“I have a feeling I know what your secret is about,” Kizakura said, “And I want you to know no one here will shame you. What happened to you and your sister…” He looked down. The two of them went silent for a moment.

“I’m not killing for that secret,” Byakuya responded, “But a weaker person might. I’m not the one you should be looking out for.”

There was a tone of finality in his voice that Kizakura decided not to challenge. It was time to change the subject.

“Still studying on serial killers?” He asked.

“No,” Byakuya replied. “I’ve already got the latest one figured out. I’m trying to investigate a different beast entirely.”

“Which is?”

“World ender.”

Kizakura’s stomach dropped. Something about that name…it was almost familiar. 

“…I have a feeling this isn’t just for fun,” He said.

“Of course not,” He snapped back, suddenly irritated. “Monokuma is taunting us. He’s been deliberately giving us crumbs of information, and I intend to connect them.”

“So what have you learned about this so-called world ender?”

“Nothing much, obviously,” Byakuya began. “But the few things I  _ did _ find were interesting. There’s the organization Monokuma mentioned, the Future Foundation…I think they might be connected.”

_ The Future Foundation. _ The name felt familiar, but hadn’t he only heard it from Monokuma? It was probably another thing he’d lost in the memory erasure.

“Anything else?” 

Byakuya shook his head.

“I presume that you are here to drag me back to the  _ service industry.” _

“Yeah, yeah,” He chuckled, glad to see Byakuya back to his normal self. “Come on. We’ve managed to mostly take care of lunch, but we definitely need the extra pair of hands for dinner.”

“Is this really more important than my investigation?” Byakuya asked. He was aloof, but there wasn’t venom in his words anymore.

Kizakura sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’ve got half a mind to just give up and tell the others you got sick,” He admitted. “But the last time I did that…”

Nothing else needed to be said.

“Fine,” He muttered, getting up from his seat. “I’ll come.”

-

The morning had bled into the afternoon, and Chiaki had left the hotel. She, Sakura and Toko were all going around checking things on the second island; she didn’t like being on a similar duty as last week, but it was the best she could do. Currently, the three of them were all in different places. She kind of missed having someone to chat with, so when she caught sight of Toko she was relieved—even though she was kind of belligerent, Chiaki had made a little progress getting to know her.

“Hey hey, Toko.”

Toko turned around and screamed. “W-w-w-what are you d-doing here?!”

“Wait—I was just saying hi!”

Toko fell backwards and tried to scramble away. This resulted in her skirt hiking up, revealing a number of scars on her left thigh. She froze.

“Toko…are you okay…?”

“No! S-stay away!”

“But—”

“W-w-why d-do you keep b-being s-so  _ nice _ to me?!” Toko screamed.

Chiaki paused. Why  _ was _ she being nice to Toko? She kept pushing everyone away and yelling. She stalked Byakuya. She didn’t bathe. She took everything as an insult.

“The real question is,” Chiaki said, “Why are you so  _ mean?” _

Toko gave her a strange look. Chiaki waited for her to say something. Toko was silent, so she continued.

“You always shrink away from me whenever I talk to you…even when I’m just saying hi! I don’t mean to hurt you, honest!”

“Th-then w-why are y-you y-y-yelling at me?!”

“Because I’m mad!” She yelled. “I’m frustrated! You keep calling everyone names when we’re just trying to get to know you!”

“I-it’s because—because y-you—”

Toko clutched her head and groaned.

“Because n-nobody’s ever  _ b-been _ nice to me!” She shouted. “It’s always—th-there’s always—a h-hidden r-reason! Th-they’re always…j-just out to get me!”

Chiaki had suspected this for a while now. A part of her wondered if she was reaching out because of pity. But she squashed that thought and crouched down so they were both at eye level.

“I’m not out to get you, I promise. And I’m not doing this because I feel sorry for you or anything. I just…want to get along with everyone…”

_ Even Byakuya, _ She thought, looking away.

Toko sniffled loudly and covered up her thigh. Chiaki looked back and saw that she was…crying?

Toko curled in on herself and began to wail. Chiaki felt horrible. Was it her fault this had happened? What should she do?”

“Th-thank you…” Toko managed. “Th-thank—”

She threw herself at Chiaki, who barely managed to catch her. “It’s okay, it’s okay…” She murmured.

She was never good at comforting crying people, but at least she understood Toko a little better now.

-

Chiaki was just about to go to her cottage and take a short nap before dinner when Ryota approached her.

“Hey hey.”

“Hi, Chiaki. Can you help me with something? I promise it’ll be quick.”

“Oh,” She said, looking back at her cottage wistfully, “Um, sure.”

The two of them made their way over to the central island. Chiaki was quickly getting annoyed.

“I thought you said this would only take a couple of minutes,” She said.

“It will!” He replied, raising up his hands. “I promise! See, we’re at our destination already!”

They made their way towards Jabberwock Park, where the arcade machine was set up. Next to it was a wooden measuring stick.

“Okay, so,” Ryota began, “You know how we aren’t allowed to play the other students’ games or we’ll get executed?”

Chiaki already didn’t like the sound of this.

“Yeah,” She replied.

“Okay. Okay. Good. So yeah,” He picked up the measuring stick, “I was thinking I could use this yardstick to play the games, and since we’d be far away the spears of whatever wouldn’t be able to impale us! That’s why I need your help!”

Chiaki took a minute to process what she had just heard.

“Ryota?”

“Yeah?”

“That is—”

“Completely unnecessary!” Monokuma interrupted.

Chiaki and Ryota both screamed.

“Ryota, I must praise your initiative! You’ve figured something out that the rest of you didn’t even think of!” He turned to Chiaki. “Disappointing, really. I thought you would  _ love _ to play those extra games!”

“Of course not!”

Monokuma simply ignored her. “Well, I’ve decided that playing the other games is a-okay as long as they belong to someone who’s dead! With one special exception, of course.”

“One special exception?” Ryota asked.

“It must be…the twentieth game, right?”

“Exactamundo! That one is special! If you enter the mastermind’s name, you can access it! No waiting for dead students required!”

“Wait,” Ryota questioned, “So you’re saying the mastermind isn’t part of this group?”

“Puhuhuhuhu! What kind of idiot would put their life in danger when they were the one running the killing game? They’d have to be addicted to despair!”

“Oh,” He replied, “That makes sense.”

“That explains the twentieth podium,” Chiaki added. “And actually…it might be…”

Ryota turned and gave her a confused look. “Wait, you already know who the mastermind is?! Spill it!”

She paused. “I think…we need to talk with Mr. Kizakura.”

-

Chiaki and Ryota went back to the restaurant. Once there, they took Kizakura aside. 

“What’s going on, you two? You look pretty concerned.”

Ryota glanced at Chiaki. “Um, can you tell him?”

She nodded. “Okay, so…”

Fifteen minutes of exposition later, she was finished.

“Interesting,” Kizakura said after a moment. “Thank you for telling me this.”

“I was thinking about telling Mr. Munakata, but sometimes he’s kind of…”

“Scary,” Ryota finished.

“That makes sense,” Kizakura chuckled. “But there’s something that bothers me…”

Chiaki tilted her head.

“The mastermind. Monokuma said that only someone addicted to despair would put themselves in the killing game, right? But the whole purpose of this game is despair….”

Chiaki went pale. “So you’re saying that…they might still be with us?”

“W-wait…it could even be pal…? No! I won’t accept this!”

Chiaki heard Kizakura swear under his breath. “Forget I said anything.”

“Th-that’s right! There’s no way there could be a traitor or the mastermind among us!” Ryota sounded desperate.

“Ryota, we should probably be a little quieter about this…” Chiaki said, looking around. Kizakura made a serious expression and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Chiaki. Ryota. Listen to me very closely. Do  _ not _ tell anyone else about this. I’m going to discuss this with Munakata. I have a feeling there’s something more complicated going on—Monokuma could easily have misled you. We  _ can’t _ afford paranoia at a time like this. Do you understand?”

They both nodded and looked at each other. Ryota fiddled with his hands. Chiaki had a feeling he would tell Hifumi anyway, and that worried her; she didn’t know how well the guy kept secrets. But if she said something about it, Ryota would probably throw a fit, drawing attention to them, and inevitably  _ everyone _ would find out. In the end she chose the lesser of two evils and stayed quiet.

-

Nearby, Mukuro discreetly overheard their conversation. To say this was a huge development was an understatement. She needed to protect Ryoko, and that meant telling her the truth. She found Ryoko and dragged her back to their cottage.

-

“Mukuro, what’s gotten into you? Is something wrong?”

“Yes. Ryoko, you should sit down. I need to tell you something.”

She looked uncomfortable, but pulled out a notebook and sat down on the bed. Mukuro could see the label— _ Extra important Mukuro stuff! _ If she wasn’t so worried, she would smile at that. She sat next to Ryoko.

“Listen.” She began, “I overheard some conversation this evening that had something to do with the mastermind.”

“At dinner, Chiaki and Ryota approached Mr. Kizakura. They were discussing something Monokuma had told them about the video game in the park. One: they discovered that we are allowed to play the games of the dead students without getting punished. Two: apparently, the reason why it has twenty games is because there’s a secret game for the mastermind.

“This means a few things. First, we can play the dead students’ games and maybe they’ll contain hints about our situation. Second, if we’re lucky, we can find the secret game among the dead students’ games and put a stop to Monokuma.

“That being said, I don’t think that’s going to happen. If the mastermind was already dead, the killing game would probably have ended already. I think that the mastermind is still alive, and most likely on this island. Let me go back to the conversation I overheard.

“They said that there’s a secret ending for the mastermind. Chiaki and Ryota reasoned that this meant that the mastermind was separate from the rest of us, but Mr. Kizakura brought up another valid point: the mastermind could still be among us, waiting on the despair of failing. They could possibly even be hiding their identity.

“What I’m saying is: we need to be careful. Mr. Kizakura said not to tell anyone because if they found out, it would result in mass paranoia. That’s definitely a good point, because we don’t know for sure if they are among us or not, and Monokuma probably gave the information banking on them telling someone and causing chaos, resulting in another murder. 

“I’m actually agreeing with Chiaki and Ryota on this—it’s the explanation that makes the most sense, and each person only got one game. I’m just telling you all this because I want you to be safe, okay?”

By the time Mukuro had finished, Ryoko looked terrified. 

“Ryoko? Are you okay?”

Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Ryoko pulled out her secret envelope. She opened it and took out the card, then silently handed it to Mukuro.

On it was a single sentence written in clean, distinguished letters.

_ Ryoko Otonashi is not who she says she is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUUUUUN! Anyway, thanks for reading. Also, MASSIVE thank you to starsarelighted on tv tropes for not only putting this on the DR fanfic recs page, but adding as an example to two other trope pages! I’ve been seriously considering making a page for the PARALLEL as a whole—I know it’s technically allowed, but it feels kind of...circle jerk-y? Do you think I should do it?


	16. Chapter 2: Laid bare daily life 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone refuses to take Monokuma’s bait, so he throws a tantrum. That’s it, that’s the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This chapter was pretty difficult to write. Hopefully it’s up to snuff(lol)—I wanted to get it out ASAP, so let me know if there’s some weird missing scenes or errors.

Mukuro stared at the card. Her hands trembled as she read it again and again and again.

“No…” She whispered. “No, I won’t accept this!”

“Mukuro…” Ryoko said, reaching for her hand, “I’m sorry.”

“No!” She shouted, and threw the card away from herself. It fluttered to the ground. “There’s no way—there’s no  _ way _ you could be the mastermind!”

“Mukuro, please! We have to consider the possibility! My memory problems…it could be because I…”

“Shut up!” Mukuro shouted, standing up. “Just forget I said anything!” She reached for Ryoko’s notebook, but Ryoko quickly grabbed it away.

“Stop it, Mukuro! We—I—”

“No! I can’t accept it…I  _ won’t  _ accept it!”

She ran out the door before Ryoko could respond.

-

Munakata ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“So you think that the mastermind of this game is Chihiro Fujisaki?”

“Probably,” Kizakura replied. “I vaguely remember scouting the Ultimate Programmer…controlling Monokuma would be right up their alley. Problem is, we don’t know whether entering their name would trigger an execution or not.”

They both grimaced a little on the last word. 

“Maybe we could ask Monokuma,” Munakata suggested.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…smug little bastard might just lead us on with more ambiguity.”

He shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

“I guess…god, I…I fucked up.” Kizakura looked down. “I said that…someone could be hiding their identity, or something… _ damn _ it!” He pounded his fist on the table.

“You  _ what?!” _ Munakata shouted. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant, so nobody could hear him. “Are you insane?! What if someone overheard you?! What if Ryota tells someone?!”

“I know, I know…god, I’m such an idiot…Ryota’s pretty deep in denial that it could be one of us, but…shit, if we tell everyone, who’s to say someone else won’t say the same thing?”

The two of them sat in silence. Neither of them had any idea how to proceed.

-

Ryota lay in his bed, head swimming. He couldn’t get what Kizakura and Monokuma said out of his mind.  _ Addicted to despair. _ What kind of person would  _ enjoy _ that?

He gently touched his wrists, and winced. God, he thought those days were behind him. He’d worked so hard on his anime so he would never fall back into that pit of depression…and now it had come back to haunt him. He frantically wiped back his tears.

In the dim moonlight, he could just barely make out the scars on his arms.

-

You have many secrets. But that one? Is not worth killing for.

The ones that are are the ones you can’t remember.

If only.

If only you could remember.

You are mine.

And I am yours.

-

At the breakfast meeting, everyone was extremely subdued. Even the normally bubbly Ryoko was quiet.

“Okay! So since nobody else has spoken up, I might as well go first!” Hina shouted as she stood up. “I’m gonna throw a party at chandler beach tonight! It’ll be from sunset to sunrise, starting tonight!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Leon yelled. “How can you think about partying at a time like this?!”

“I told you to come to us first,” Munakata chastised.

“I was gonna, but everyone left after Monokuma…y’know…”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Munakata and Kizakura exchanged glances.

“It’s still very abrupt,” Kizakura said after a minute. “We have less than twelve hours before Monokuma reveals our secrets. How are we supposed to combat this?”

“P-plus it m-might lead t-to a…m-murder…”

Everyone turned to stare at Toko. She stood up and slammed her hand on the table.

“I…I’m r-right! E-even if w-we had th-the party r-right now…w-we would have to separate at s-some point…! Th-then before the s-secrets were revealed, someone…c-could…!”

“The best way to combat that is to share our secrets immediately!” Taka shouted. 

“Nope!” Monokuma said as he popped into view. Ryota and Hifumi both screamed.

“What is it this time?” Leon spat.

“Puhuhuhu! Taka had the right idea! Sharing your secrets is the best way to end this conflict…that’s why from here on out, nobody is allowed to share secrets with each other!”

“By ‘from here on out,” do you mean that people have already started sharing secrets?” Celeste asked.

“Precisely!”

“But then we could just wait twelve more hours,” Chiaki pointed out.

“And if we all stick together, we could still avoid any murders,” Sakura added. 

Hifumi looked horrified. “Even in the bathroom?!”

“Fine! You know what?! Screw you!” Monokuma shouted. “I’m making up a  _ new _ motive, right here and now!”

“Does that mean the whole dark secrets thing is over now?” Hina asked.

“Hell no! I’m just adding an extra layer! As of right now, your stupid party is now  _ mandatory!” _

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Taka said.

“But wait, there’s more! You better impress me with the party getup! Because if I’m  _ not _ impressed…well, you’ll all be executed!”

“Okay, so we just need to plan then,” He replied.

“Hmph. A simple endeavor for a Togami such as myself.”

“Bzzt! Wrong!” Monokuma shouted, raising his hands. “You guys can’t stand in large groups anymore! No more than three! And no communication over radios either! I’ve taken them all away!”

Kizakura stroked his chin. “How far apart do we have to be?”

“Twenty five yards! Unless you’re in your cottages with the doors closed. And if you open it and try to go into another person’s cottage, you’ll be executed no matter what! So don’t get any ideas!”

“So it’s like a giant game of telephone?”

“Exactly! Even a dementia-ridden alcoholic like you gets it! Of course, that’s cancelled the minute someone commits a murder…puhuhuhu!”

“What a headache,” Munakata groaned.

“You have five minutes to disperse!” Monokuma screamed before walking out.

“Well,” Celeste said, “That was idiotic.”

-

“Th-this is pointless…” Toko muttered. “W-we’ll all b-be executed…M-Monokuma won’t ever b-be satisfied…”

“Toko, please…”

Chiaki and Toko had managed to communicate with everyone else that they would bring some snacks over. They’d managed four carts already (each of them had taken one per trip) and were going back to the market to fetch a third. Monokuma’s new rules had slowed the process significantly, and it was already late afternoon. Toko had become increasingly anxious over the course of the day, and was now entering full-blown panic mode. 

“B-but, the sun’s s-starting to set, and w-we haven’t even f-finished getting the f-food over…!”

“It’s only four,” Chiaki reassured. “The sun won’t set until six. We have plenty of time.”

Toko huffed. “Whatever…”

The doors slid open, and the two girls felt a cool rush of air hit them as they entered the supermarket. Inside, Hina was looking through a rack of swimsuits.

“Hi guys!” She greeted.”

“Hey hey,” Chiaki replied.

“G-good afternoon, I g-guess…” Toko muttered, grimacing.

“So what’re you guys doing here?” Hina continued.

“Getting the last of the food over,” Chiaki replied.

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it! Ruruka was in the kitchen, and Sakura went to help her! She said they would bring some extra snacks over too. I think you guys can just chill.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Th-then w-what are  _ you _ d-doing here?”

“Oh, me? I was looking for swimsuits!” Hina beamed.

“Th-thought y-you’d have a m-million of those,” Toko grumbled.

“Heh, yeah…” She rubbed the back of her head. “But I thought I’d pick up a cute one before the party, y’know?”

“That’s true,” Chiaki noted. “You’d have to change at your cottage, though…”

“I guess I might as well pick up a frilly one, if that’s the case! I probably won’t be spending much time in the water, anyway, since it’ll be dark. I don’t have to worry about performance or anything this time!”

“W-well, w-we can g-go now,” Toko muttered, gently tugging on Chiaki’s sleeve.

“Wait, what about you guys?”

Chiaki cringed.  _ Please leave us alone… _

“I’ve already got one,” She replied.

“Okay, but what about you, Toko?”

Toko’s eyes widened. “I—”

“Her skin is sensitive to the ocean, so she might get a rash,” Chiaki cut in. Toko gave her a grateful look.

“Aww, but it’d be fun! Look, there’s some full-body suits over here!”

“Leave Toko alone!” Chiaki demanded as Hina tried to pull her away. Alas, Hina had already shoved a rash guard and swim pants into her arms.

“I think this really is your color,” Hina said. It was a matching set, with a black torso and inner legs, while the arms and outer legs were purple with a flower pattern on them.

“Toko, are you okay?” Chiaki asked, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. She turned to Hina. “Hey, read the room! Toko wasn’t interested!”

“I-it’s fine.”

Chiaki turned to her in surprise.

“I’ve n-never…” She started to shake. “I-I’ve…never…!”

She wiped her eyes. “Th-thank y-you…”

Hina gently smiled. “Yeah! Sorry, I guess I  _ was _ a little forceful…”

“Okay, I’m glad you’re good,” Chiaki said, also smiling. “Do you want to keep shopping, or…?”

She quietly nodded. 

“Okay!” Hina said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get you some swim shoes!”

-

It only took a couple of minutes to find a pair in Toko’s size, but over the course of that short period she became noticeably less anxious. Chiaki felt relieved. 

“All done!” Hina said. “Toko, I’m sure you’ll look great!”

She blushed and softly smiled. “Th-thanks…”

“Okay, so it looks like there’s not really much left for us to do…” Chiaki said thoughtfully. “Toko, you’re feeling better, right?

“Th-that’s right…” She said, her eyes full of determination. “I can’t let Genocide out…I won’t let her out!”

She ran out the door clutching her new outfit.

“Toko, wait!” Chiaki shouted.

“Aaaaaaaand she’s gone,” Hina sighed.

“At least she seems more confident…”

-

Munakata was carrying a couple of folding chairs when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Folding chairs?” Byakuya asked haughtily. “Really?”

“Good to see you too, Byakuya,” He replied sarcastically.

Byakuya ignored him and eyed the chairs in his arms. “At least they’re wooden,” He said after a moment. “They’ll look less trashy than the metal ones.”

“A glowing review from the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy. I’m flattered. What are you doing out and about?”

“To ensure the party meets up to my standards,” He replied. “Obviously.”

Munakata rolled his eyes. “And if it isn’t?”

Byakuya huffed. “It’s clear that it won’t be. That’s why I’m going to the market to bring things that you commoners would fail to notice. That place may be a complete dump, but even it has  _ some _ objects of value hidden there.”

“Tell me who’s going with you, then.”

“I intend to shop alone,” He stated. “I don’t need any distractions. But if you’re truly frightened, I will be meeting up with Toko at the beach house. She is to come and assist me with the process of rearranging the party layout.”

Munakata frowned. He and Kizakura were both extremely troubled by how the two of them interacted with each other—he verbally abused her, and she stalked him. It wasn’t healthy. Still, he hadn’t really gone any further than telling her off, and he doubted either of them could harm each other.

“Why the beach house, though?”

“Because I don’t want her going around doing something that would risk her life.”

Munakata sighed. “At least take a flashlight with you,” He responded. “It’s already getting dark. Don’t be late for the party, either.”

Byakuya simply rolled his eyes and walked out the door.

-

Ryoko and Mukuro walked over the second bridge in uncomfortable silence. The argument they’d had the previous night still loomed over them like a dark cloud. She still couldn’t believe Ryoko would be capable of something as atrocious as a killing game. To make things worse, Ryoko didn’t even look angry at her for the way she’d reacted. She was just…sad.

_ I’m such an idiot. _

Ryoko shivered a little. The sun had already set, and the last remaining light had faded. Even though she was wearing a jacket, it was still rather chilly. Mukuro held the lantern a little higher. Ryoko gave her an awkward glance. She cleared her throat.

“Um. I. Uh,” She stammered, “I’m…sorry.”

Ryoko gave her that sad look again and she felt even worse.

_ Dammit! Why is she guilt tripping me?! _

“I’m sorry too.”

Mukuro paused. She had wanted her to apologize. She’d spent the whole day feeling angry about Ryoko insinuating that her secret meant she might be the mastermind. And now Ryoko  _ was _ apologizing, with complete sincerity. It made Mukuro feel like an even bigger asshole than before, and this time she couldn’t even blame Ryoko for it.

“I mean,” Mukuro said, “I guess you have a point. It’s just…you’re such a good person, I can’t…!”

“Yeah, I guess…people can change a lot in a few years, and with our missing memories, I thought…” She shook her head. “But you have a point, too. The twentieth podium…who does it belong to?”

Mukuro didn’t know, so she just shrugged. Ryoko pulled out her notebook and started writing something down, presumably their conversation. They both turned and continued to walk onto the path. But instead of the silence being stifling, it was now content.

-

Chiaki leaned back in her chair and sighed. She’d just lost another round of gala omega on her gamegirl. Behind her, Mondo and Taka were loudly chatting about something she didn’t really care about. It was annoying.

“You doing alright?” Kizakura asked, sliding into her booth. He took a swig from his flask. “I can tell those two to pipe down if you like.”

It was nice to be able to interact with more than one person after spending all day being practically alone. Monokuma had used the monitors to “helpfully” inform them that they were to meet in the diner. This meant that none of them would be executed for being in there together.

“I’m fine, really,” She said, glancing back at the two. “I’m a bit miffed about what they said to you and Ryota and Hifumi, though.”

Taka and Mondo didn’t seem to notice their conversation. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Kizakura nodded. “They’re definitely being obnoxious about it. Munakata’s gonna try to talk to them after this, if he can.”

_ If. _ Her stomach dropped at the word. She thought of spears erupting from the ground, of Hiro being bitten in half. She’d been pushing it aside, but the dread came back all at once. 

“Shit,” Kizakura slapped his forehead. “There I go, making you panic again…I’m sorry, Chiaki.”

“Thanks,” She replied. Almost everyone was in the diner now; only Mukuro, Ryoko, Hina, Toko and Byakuya were missing. “I hope the others aren’t late.”

“Hi guys!” Ryoko said as she and Mukuro walked in. “Let’s throw the best party ever!”

“Yo,” Leon replied. “Hey, where’s Hina?”

As if on cue, Hina materialized behind them. Ryoko jumped a little. If Mukuro was spooked, she didn’t show it.

“Hey everyone!” She had a towel wrapped around her body, and her hair was down. “I made it just in time!”

“Hina, you’re soaked,” Sakura said. “Aren’t you cold? And how did you get wet in the first place?”

“Oh, that? I was swimming for about two hours trying to find a way to the other islands! No dice, though, since the water around the bridges was too choppy to get through…anyway, sorry I didn’t show up earlier! It totally slipped my mind…I didn’t even have time to change clothes!”

Ryota balked. “All alone? Are you nuts?!”

“And in the dark no less,” Sakura scolded. “You could have drowned!”

Hina pouted. “Hey! It wasn’t totally dark yet! I got out of the water a little bit after the sun went down!”

Before anyone could argue, Byakuya swung open the door, clutching his side.

“The beach house,” He wheezed. “It’s…”

He collapsed. Kyosuke and Sakura dashed to his side.

“Somebody find a first aid kit!” She shouted.

He was bleeding from what looked like a stab wound.

“Please, please, the beach house,” He mumbled. Hina pressed her towel onto his side to stop the bleeding. “Somebody…”

Mukuro and Chiaki exchanged glances. The two of them plus Ryoko ran out the door.

They rushed through the tunnel to where the back door was. Chiaki swung it open, and noticed something large to her right. She turned her head to get a better look.

And what she saw…

_ Ding dong dong ding! _

“A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!”

…was Toko, slumped against the wall, her swimsuit drenched in blood.

**Chapter two**

**Laid bare**

**Daily Life**

**End**

You received a present: Broken glasses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! The culprit should be pretty obvious already, since I am and always will be awful at writing murders. Mixnspice, please forgive me.  
> Anyway, the next chapter will probably be a couple weeks away; I need to gather evidence and plan out the class trial instead of winging it like last time. I’ll probably be focusing on tdtrt for a while. Thanks for reading!


End file.
